Lyft Inc. introduces new more durable scooter for its scooter-sharing business

Transportation network Lyft Inc. is introducing its own special model of scooter for its scooter-sharing business. The scooter is mean to be more durable, has a longer battery life and bike-like brakes. The scooters are available in Denver.

Lyft

Wikipedia describes Lyft as follows: "Lyft, Inc. is a transportation network company (TNC) based in San Francisco, California and operating in 640 cities in the United States and 9 cities in Canada. It develops, markets, and operates the Lyft mobile app, offering car rides, scooters, and a bicycle-sharing system. Lyft is the second-largest TNC with a 30 percent market share in the United States, according to Second Measure. Most jurisdictions regulate TNCs and TNCs are banned from operating in some jurisdictions."

The new scooter

There is a new hand brake located on the left handlebar. It works much like those on bikes and stops both wheels when pulled. The new frame is made by the well-known Segway company. It does not fold which Lyft claims makes it sturdier. The scooter's base is 20 percent wider at 6.5 inches. The new batteries will travel about 35 to 40 miles on a charge.

Uber also sports a new scooter

Lyft's larger competitor Uber also has announced a ruggeder scooter at a recent conference, and is to introduce it on June 24 in the United States. The industry overall is trying to create more durable scooters. The business is losing money. Both Lyft and Uber are also losing money in their ride-hailing business. The more durable scooters may improve the per unit economics for the scooters. However, it is not known yet if the change will make the business profitable. Industry insiders will be watching closely to see what happens.

Both the Lyft and Uber new scooters sport pink wheels. Lyft has re-branded its bike sharing program formerly known as Ford GoBike is now known as Bay Wheels.

Formerly published in the Digital Journal

Owner of Japanaese tanker that was attacked contradicts US claims about the incident

(June 15) The owner of the Kokuka Outrageous the Japanese tanker attacked last Thursday contradicted US claims about the incident. US Central Command claimed the two tankers were hit with limpet mines a type of mine that is attached to the hull below the waterline.

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Owner says he received reports a projectile hit the ship

Yutaka Katada the owner of the Kokuka Outrageous claims he received reports that a projectile hit the ship. At a press conference Kata said: "We received reports that something flew towards the ship. The place where the projectile landed was significantly higher than the water level, so we are absolutely sure that this wasn’t a torpedo. I do not think there was a time bomb or an object attached to the side of the ship."

The US blames Iran

The US Central Command released a black and white video of a boat alongside a ship. The Command claimed it was an Iranian patrol boat removing a limpet mine from the Kobuka Courageous with the US saying the Iranians were destroying the evidence.

However, the video is not clear enough to tell exactly what the boat was doing. Iranian state media said that Iran had rescued crews from both ships. The video could just have recorded the crew begin rescued. You would think that if a mine were removed this would have been reported by the ship's crew.

On a Fox and Friends interview on Friday morning President Donald Trump also blamed Iran for the attacks on the tankers and cited the video as poor saying: “Iran did do it and you know they did it because you saw the boat. They’re in deep, deep trouble...We don’t take it lightly,” he added, pointing out the US had already reimposed tough sanctions on Iran. They’ve been told in very strong terms … we want to get them back to the table if they want to get back. I’m in no rush.”

On this issue Trump is falling in line with his hawkish Secretary of State Mike Pompeio who on Thursday also accused Iran of attacking the tankers but gave no evidence to back up his claim.

Others are more cautious

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt refused to resolutely back up the US claim right away saying on Friday: "We are going to make our own independent assessment, we have our processes to do that, (but) we have no reason not to believe the American assessment and our instinct is to believe it because they are our closest ally."

The EU issued an even more cautious statement: "The European Union called on Friday for maximum restraint amid mounting tensions over U.S. accusations against Iran over attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.“We are gathering more information and we are assessing the situation,” a spokeswoman for the EU’s foreign service told reporters. “We have said repeatedly that the region doesn’t need further escalation, it doesn’t need destabilization, it doesn’t need further tension and therefore we call for maximum restraint and to avoid provocations.”"

Iran denied responsibility for the attacks on Friday. No US officials have responded to the Japanese ship owner's remarks.

Many have suggested that this is a false flag operation as considered on the appended video. Note that the attack took place when the Japanese PM made a historic visit to Iran. However, there are other explanations as well.

Previously published in the Digital Journal