Via's personal ride-hailing will shut down next week



Via.

Via's personal on-demand rides will be ending. Via is shutting down its operations in New York and Washington, DC, after December 20th. Mass transit systems like buses, shuttles and vans will be the focus of the company after that. You might still use Via to check schedules, but you won't have much more control and will probably share the vehicle.

The company believes that its public transportation business is more successful. Via's transit business is growing quickly, and it's a more reliable revenue stream thanks to long-term contracts, according to Via chief Daniel Ramot. Via would have needed a major investment to return its business to pre-pandemic levels, and the company didn't want to incur those costs when transit was thriving.

Via's challenges are very different from its competitors. Demand for drivers is coming back up. They have larger slices of personal ride hailing than Via. Via would be competing for a small slice of the market with two clear incumbents. The ride-sharing companies have largely left untouched the segment that was fought over.

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