Dive Brief:
- Gotcha Group, a Charleston, SC-based mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) company that offers customized dockless bike-share and electric ride-share systems to college towns and cities, announced it will soon roll out electric scooter systems. Gotcha says it is now the first shared mobility company in the U.S. to provide all three products.
- CEO Sean Flood told The Post and Courier that Gotcha will take a strategic approach to the electric scooter business by first offering the systems as a supplement to its existing bike- and ride-share systems in partner cities and universities. He estimated Gotcha will launch six scooter systems by the fall.
- This announcement comes on the heels of a June announcement from Gotcha that outlined the company's rapid growth into new markets, as well as its growing leadership team.
Dive Insight:
As the shared mobility industry has rapidly grown, Gotcha has maintained a unique presence in the industry as a leading MaaS provider for university and college campuses. Through their very nature, campuses can resemble mini smart cities, and since the launch of Gotcha, Flood has worked to highlight the potential for improving transportation at schools across the country. Today, Gotcha operates more than 30 systems, including the War Eagle Express at Auburn University and Charlotte Wheels at the University of North Carolina.
Gotcha has also positioned itself as a competitor to other shared mobility giants in cities, such as Lime and ofo. It considers itself the "little guy" in the market; however Flood has touted Gotcha's business as one that is more strategic and sustainable than the other national players.
"There are several mobility operators entering the U.S. market without a clear strategy or established partnerships, which is creating chaotic and potentially dangerous scenarios for many cities and schools," he said in a recent press release, alluding to recent regulatory debates in cities like Chicago and Dallas. "While there's a growing need for smart and sustainable transportation options, we believe it should be an absolute priority to make sure these systems are properly implemented so citizens, students, businesses, and governments all benefit in the long run."
Considering Flood's conservative outlook on launching Gotcha's scooter-share arm, it is likely the industry will see a slow by successful growth of the Gotcha scooters, pending the company maintains a positive relationship with the cities and universities in which it currently operates.
