In this episode of the Micromobility Podcast, Prabin Joel Jones (CEO, Micromobility Industries) sits down with Erdem Ovacik, Co-founder of Donkey Republic (the iconic orange bikes across Copenhagen, Antwerp, and beyond) and now Co-founder of Impact Market / MIMA (Mobility Impact Market).

Erdem’s thesis is simple and radical: cities already subsidize public transport heavily, but new mobility is expected to survive on user fees alone. The result is predictable - services become expensive, availability suffers, and mode shift stalls. Impact Market proposes a new model: impact procurement that pays operators per high-value trip, essentially a reverse congestion charge where the public rewards the trips it wants more of.

We go deep on how this works in practice: where budgets can come from (transport, infrastructure avoidance, preventive health, climate funds), how “open house” contracting differs from traditional tenders, how to measure social ROI fast, and how to prevent fraud or price-gouging. We also explore autonomous vehicles, why Europe is cautious, and how smart incentives can push AVs toward pooling and first/last mile public transit integration rather than adding “empty miles” and more congestion.

What you’ll learn

• Why many city mobility tenders are failing
• How trip incentives can unlock affordability + availability
• How to measure mode shift and social ROI in a pilot
• How to prevent abuse (competition + price conditions + audits)
• Why Paris is a leading example (bike lanes, leasing, carpool incentives)
• How AVs could help public transit (or create mayhem) depending on incentives