With a round of funding made successful by Tony
Hsieh and various small angel contributions, SHIFT is
taking its business model focused on ride sharing to
eliminate the need for people to own vehicles.
Customers of the service are matched up with a bike
or vehicle from a pool of shared rides that caters to
their enduring need for immediacy. After specifying
your destination, SHIFT matches you with the best
mode of transportation, and before you know it,
you’re swiftly on your way.
Unlike Uber, SHIFT will own every part of the
process. This means vehicles, bikes, and charging
stations are all theirs.
SHIFT headquarters
located in downtown
Las Vegas, is home to
the largest electric
charging station in the
US, and they’ve already
put in the orders for 100
Tesla vehicles to serve
as part of its starting
fleet. Other vehicles
being considered for use
are the economical
Chevy Volt and the
Mercedes-Benz Smart Car.
The ultimate aim is to have people
ditch their cars and current public
transportation habits in lieu of
walking five minutes to a SHIFT bike
or vehicle holding area.
As Patrick Olson puts it, "Cities tend to be
disconnected, and getting to hubs at the urban core
efficiently is expensive.” Waving down a taxi or
waiting for a bus is hardly anyone's idea of a good
time. Not only that, it costs a pretty penny to live in
the core of the city, which causes people to pay for
housing just outside said core where the penny doesn't
have to be as pretty. This makes for a real pain getting
to the center of the city where all the action is. "Our
goal is to patch the hole between the outskirts of the
city and the core by simplifying the process of getting
there," adds Ware.
The point is that traveling in a big city can be a hassle,
and there’s little innovation in the industry to improve
it,