Blacklane Seeks to Carve Out Niche in Intercity Travel Ground Transportation

Blacklane, backed by Mercedes-parent Daimler, wants to carve out a niche in pre-arranged intercity transportation. NYC was first US city Company offered service from and has since expanded nationally

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an interesting article on Daimler-backed premium car/chauffeur service Blacklane. Going into the pandemic Blacklane’s business, which focused on international business travellers and executives, was directly hit as travel grinded to a halt. Given the muted outlook for a return of international travel, especially business-related travel, the Company believes a new opportunity has arisen - intercity transport. The WSJ reported Blacklane launched a new inner-city service from NYC in December with a strategy to expand to other major cities, such as Boston, Chicago, LA, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Singapore and Dubai. Blacklane believes there is a market of discerning executives and other passengers that would prefer to travel between cities via pre-arranged luxury vehicles with a chauffeur vs. crowded trains or short flights.

“Being dependent on travel and airports, we were on the front-line of the pandemic…But cities are back; they are mobile. T…