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In article <t2p7ks$3pfvj$253@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

Very happy to see Swallwell fail after his immature ignorant behavior with a Chink whore spy.

Monkey Pox, right on time to give Democrats an excuse to cheat in the next election.

Bolt Mobility, the Miami-based micromobility startup co-founded
by Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, appears to have vanished
without a trace from several of its U.S. markets.

In some cases, the departure has been abrupt, leaving cities
with abandoned equipment, unanswered calls and emails and lots
of questions.

Bolt has stopped operating in at least five U.S. cities,
including Portland, Oregon, Burlington, South Burlington and
Winooski in Vermont and Richmond, California, according to city
officials. City representatives also said they were unable to
reach anyone at Bolt, including its CEO Ignacio Tzoumas.

TechCrunch has made multiple attempts to reach Bolt and those
who have backed the company. Emails to Bolt’s communications
department, several employees and investors went unanswered.
Even the customer service line doesn't appear to be staffed. The
PR agency that was representing Bolt in March of this year told
TechCrunch it is no longer working with the company.

Bolt halted its service in Portland on July 1. The company’s
failure to provide the city with updated insurance and pay some
outstanding fees, Portland subsequently suspended Bolt’s permit
to operate there, according to a city spokesperson.

Bolt zooms than stalls
Bolt Mobility (not to be confused with the European
transportation super app also named Bolt) was on what appeared
to be a growth streak about 18 months ago. The company acquired
in January 2021 the assets of Last Mile Holdings, which owned
micromobility companies Gotcha and OjO Electric. The purchaser
opened up 48 new markets to Bolt Mobility, most of which were
smaller cities such as Raleigh, North Carolina, St. Augustine,
Florida and Mobile, Alabama.

After purchasing Last Mile's assets, Bolt agreed to continue as
the bike share vendor in Chittenden County, Vermont, including
cities Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski.

That license was even renewed in 2022, said Bryan Davis, senior
transportation planner of the county.

“We learned a couple of weeks ago (from them) that Bolt is
ceasing operations,” Davis told TechCrunch via email, noting
that Bolt ceased operations July 1, but actually informed the
county a week later. “They’ve vanished, leaving equipment behind
and emails and calls unanswered. We’re unable to reach anyone,
but it seems they’ve closed shop in other markets as well.”

Sandy Thibault, executive director of Chittenden Area
Transportation Management Association, told the Burlington Free
Press that Bolt communicated that employees were being let go
and the company’s board of directors was discussing next steps.

A spokesperson at Burlington relayed similar information.

“All of our contacts at Bolt, including their CEO, have gone
radio silent and have not replied to our emails,” Robert
Goulding, public information manager at Burlington’s Department
of Public Works, told TechCrunch.

Davis went on to say that about 100 bikes have been left on the
ground completely inoperable and with dead batteries. Chittenden
County has given Bolt a time frame in which to claim or remove
the company’s vehicles otherwise the county will take ownership
of them.

Bolt also appears to have stopped operating in Richmond,
California, according to Richmond Mayor Tom Butt’s e-forum.

“Unfortunately, Bolt apparently went out of business without
prior notification or removal of their capital equipment from
city property,” wrote Butt. “They recently missed the city’s
monthly meeting check-in and have been unresponsive to all their
clients throughout all their markets.”

Butt went on to say that the city is coming up with a plan to
remove all the abandoned equipment – about 250 e-bikes that were
available at hub locations like BART stations and the ferry
terminal – and asked people to refrain from vandalizing the
bikes until the city could come up with a solution.

TechCrunch has reached out to several other cities in which Bolt
operates and has not been able to confirm that the company has
stopped operating entirely. In fact, a spokesperson from St.
Augustine told TechCrunch Bolt’s bike share was running as usual.

Bolt’s social media has also been rather inactive in recent
weeks. The company hasn’t posted on Instagram since June 11 or
on Twitter since June 2.

The last time TechCrunch heard from Bolt was nine months ago
when the company was peddling its in-app navigation system that
it dubbed “MobilityOS.” At the time, the startup promised that
its next generation of scooters would include a smartphone mount
that would double as a phone charger, but it’s unclear if those
scooters ever hit the streets.

Bolt has publicly raised $40.2 million, an amount that doesn’t
include an undisclosed investment from India’s Ram Charan
Company in May. Investors there could not be reached for comment.

https://news.yahoo.com/bolt-mobility-vanished-leaving-e-
203333783.html

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