you don't need to own a car.'
William Clay Ford Jr., Chaiman,
Ford Motor Company
Convenient - a car when you need one; some programs have various
models to suit your changing needs. Some motorists also use carshare as a 'second car'.
Practical - reduces number of cars in the city. Reduces
car usage of individuals by as much as 50%.
Environmental
- improves air quality. Each car share vehicle replaces
4 to 8 privately held cars.
Low
cost -
pay only for the hours you drive; a
fraction of the cost of owning a car; is cheaper than owning a car if
you need a car for fewer than 7500 miles(12,000 km)/year.
Carefree - no
maintenance;
no servicing; no parking hassles; no cleaning
How
does Car Sharing compare to car rental? Car rentals cost between $40 and $50 a day, plus more charges for mileage
and insurance.
Car sharing is less expensive because you can rent by the hour, you have
reserved parking locations, there are no line-ups or papers to fill out
and no pick-up or drop-off constraints. Availability of vehicles, however,
is not guaranteed to match your time requirements.
Car-sharing services can get pricey for people who drive long distances
or take the car on an overnight trip. But for people who just need to
go to the grocery store, a doctor's appointment or visit a friend out
of town, car sharing can be cheaper than renting a car.
Unlock the car with your personal card or key
Drive away
Return to a specified carshare location before your reservation time expires
Leave car as clean as you found it
The carshare company owns and insures all its cars, which are parked at convenient locations around town. You can pick up a car, with some carshare programs, drop it off at any carshare location when you're finished. (Other carshare programs do not allow members to take one-way trips with the vehicles, because the next member who has reserved that vehicle is expecting it to be returned to its starting location.) You pay only for the hours you've had the car. Gas, oil and car maintenance are paid by the company; members are issued a company credit card for these costs. If the car is already booked, members either have to take an alternate car, or wait until the car they usually drive is available.
The only rule is to get the car back on time. Carshares charge a late fee, usually around $20, and drivers who are consistently late lose their membership.
Cost: Annual memberships range from $25 to $100 a year. Some carshare programs require a security deposit in the $200-$500 range. Other programs have no security deposit requirement; consult individual websites for details. Usage fees range from less than $2 an hour to $9 an hour.
United
States:
ZipCar - currently serving Boston, New York, San Francisco
and Washington DC, with plans to expand soon into other cities in the
US Northeast. www.zipcar.com/
City
CarShare - serving San Francisco and the greater Bay area
with a fleet of over 200 cars. Cars have automatic transmissions. www.sfcarshare.org/
As a City CarShare member, you get driving privileges in other cities,
such as Philadelphia, Austin, Madison, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Syndey (AU)
and Melbourne (AU).
Flexcar
- currently serving Seattle, Portland OR, Los Angeles, Washington DC.(metro),
San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta, with plans to expand to over 30
cities across the U.S. www.flexcar.com/
Boulder
CarShare - Boulder city-wide carshare program. Boulder
CarShare is planning to place its first neighborhood electric vehicle
in the Norwood/Quince neighborhood. (August 10, 2001) www.carshare.org/
I-Go
- serving the greater Chicago area. www.i-go-cars.com/
Hourcar - serving Minneapolis and St.
Paul MN with a fleet of ToyotaPrius hybrids and Toyota Yaris cars.
Philly
Car Share - serving the greater Philadelphia region with
Priuses, Minis, BMWs, Elements, pickups, and more.
Austin
Car Share - serving the downtown Austin, Hyde
Park and Univ. of Texas areas with Scion xA's and Toyota Tacomas.
Community
Car - serving Madison WI with high gas mileage and hybrid
vehicles.
Canada:
CommunAuto - serving Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec. www.communauto.com
Victoria
Car Share Co-op - offering Victoria, BC residents an alternative to personal car ownership.
www.vvv.com/~carshare
Co-operative
Auto Network (CAN) - Vancouver based nonprofit car sharing organization. www.cooperativeauto.net/
ZipCar - currently serving Toronto, www.zipcar.com/
VRTUCAR
- is a car-share service that offers members 24 hour access to a fleet of
cars stationed conveniently around Ottawa. www.vrtucar.com/
AutoShare
Car Sharing Network - gives members 24-hour access to a fleet of cars stationed around Toronto.
www.autoshare.com/
The
People's Car Co-operative - provides car sharing in the Waterloo, Ontario region. www.peoplescar.org/
Car-Sharing
Co-Op of Edmonton - serving greater Edmonton, Alberta. www.web.net/~cce/
Australia:
GoGet
Australia - Australia's first national car sharing network,
operates in Sydney and Melbourne. www.goget.com.au/
Newtown
CarShare - now servicing the Sydney inner city area. www.newtowncarshare.info
CharterDrive - now serving the Sydney city area, and several locations in Melbourne. THe network of locations is constantly expanding. www.charterdrive.com.au
Flexicar - now serving St. Kilda, Fitzroy, Carlton in Melbourne. Flo intends to
locate cars in every inner Melbourne suburb. www.flexicar.com.au
Europe
and the UK:
European
Car Sharing - umbrella organization for five car sharing companies in Europe. ECS
currently has 40 participants, who operate shared cars for about 56,000
members in over 550 towns. At present ECS is represented in Denmark, Germany,
Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. www.carsharing.org/
Mobility
CarSharing Switzerland -
offering a fleet of cars available nationwide for customers to use as
needed. www.mobility.ch/
CARvenience - "hire by the hour" program run by car rental company Avis. Sutton and
Southwark are the first two London boroughs to officially launch the scheme
on September 22, European Car Free Day. www.avis.co.uk/
HOURCARS
Salisbury - car pooling system in and around Salisbury.
www.communitycars.org.uk/
CampusCars
- pay-as-you-drive car sharing program at Cranfield University. www.cranfield.ac.uk/sims/ecotech/projects/carshare.htm
CamShare
- Web-based multi-employer car sharing facility operating in the East
of England. It is run by Travel for Work (www.tfw.org.uk), a not-for-profit
partnership group of organisations seeking to help employers resolve transport
issues by encouraging staff to
travel in ways other than driving alone. www.camshare.info
Copenhagen
Car Sharing - Copenhagen car sharing, a non-profit
organisation. www.copenhagencarsharing.dk/
For more comprehensive information about car clubs in the UK, visit Carplus.
'Ride-shares'
in Europe and the UK:
London
CarShare - not a "car share' in the sense of the other listings on this page,
this is a 'virtual noticeboard' which matches drivers with riders. London
Borough or Home Counties location. www.londoncarshare.co.uk/
Shareajourney.com
Ltd
- London based, similar to the above ride-sharing service. www.shareajourney.com/
Liftshare - aims to make sharing cars a viable transport alternative in the UK.
Also offers maps, public transport info, and traffic news. www.liftshare.com/
LetsGoToWork.org.uk - not-for-profit trust dedicated to arranging car journey sharing in the
UK. www.letsgotowork.org.uk/
K&S
Car Share - puts users in contact with potential sharers in their area. www.kscarshare.co.uk/
National
Car Share - again links member drivers and passengers. They also offer an Interactive
Voice Response (IVR) car sharing information line. www.nationalcarshare.co.uk
Suffolk
Car Share - a 'ride-share' service, similar to the above listings. This is a free
service to all people in Suffolk who wish to offer or request a lift to
or from anywhere in Suffolk and vicinity. www.suffolknetwork.co.uk/aboutus/car.asp
MyLifts.com - a new online car sharing application that allows you to search for sharers
using cutting edge technology, maps and personal profiling. www.mylifts.com
Catchalift.com - This free new web-based service connects rides with riders. Currently
offers this service in Canada, Australia, NZ and UK. www.catchalift.com/
Sign up for Eartheasy's free email newsletter.
Car Sharing
Eartheasy © 2001-2008
All Rights Reserved
