CAR SHARING TREND GROWS AS URBAN DWELLERS SEEK INEXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE TO THE HIGH PRICE OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP -- part 5

CAR SHARING TREND GROWS AS URBAN DWELLERS SEEK INEXPENSIVE
ALTERNATIVE TO THE HIGH PRICE OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP

By Steve Wright

Salt Lake City entered into a two-year agreement with U Car Share and agreed to provide on-street parking spaces at no cost.

The city also modified its laws to permit the car sharing vehicles to be parked in the same parking stalls for periods longer than 48 hours.

The Utah Transit Authority and the University of Utah also entered into separate two-year agreements with U Car Share to provide car sharing services on their properties.

“Car sharing is beneficial to Salt Lake City for the following reasons: it supports the long-term economic, environmental and social sustainability of the region through balanced transportation that encourages wise land use and increases public transportation connections and mobility across the Wasatch Front,” said Mayor Ralph Becker.

The Wasatch Front includes Salt Lake City, Provo and Ogden, where about 3/4ths of Utah’s population lives. “Car sharing helps improve air quality by reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled; provides an alternative to the high costs of owning a personal vehicle; encourages more transit-oriented development and multi-modal travel; eases road traffic congestion and demand for new parking; and longer term – may possibly replace some dedicated fleet vehicles with shared cars.”

TOMORROW: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Wright frequently writes about Smart Growth and sustainable communities. He recently participated in the prestigious Forum on Land and the Built Environment: The Reinvented City sponsored by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com