ALTERNATIVE TO THE HIGH PRICE OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP
By Steve Wright
As Managing Director of Brandon Green Companies Commercial Real Estate and Investment Group, Washington, D.C.-based Realtor Ken Rub can certainly afford to own a luxury automobile. In fact, he had a beloved convertible and owned a parking space in his apartment building – but he gave up the automobile and traded them in for a Vespa scooter, public transit, healthful walking and a Zipcar membership.
“I had a convertible that I loved, but I had a $600 per month payment, $200 per month insurance, with maintenance, it was costing $900 a month at least – and I was using it just once or twice a week,’ Rub said. “For Zipcar, I pay about 11 bucks an hour and my monthly usage costs maybe $200 a month total – with gas, insurance and everything included.”
Rub lives within a mile of his office and he has good access to Metro train stations for community. He uses car sharing almost exclusively for business – driving clients to look at commercial properties, foreclosures and other real estate investment opportunities.
“I definitely bring up car sharing as an asset to a property, when there’s a good Zipcar spot nearby,” he said. “Right now, I have an 8,000-square-foot space that has been used as a charter school and day care. But it has very tight parking. So I sell the availability of transit and Zipcar right across the street. That way, workers can take transit, save the $200 a month they’d be spending for a parking space, and have Zipcar to use if an emergency comes up and they need access to a car.”
TOMORROW: U-Haul U Car Share
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
No comments:
Post a Comment