CAR SHARING TREND GROWS AS URBAN DWELLERS SEEK INEXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE TO THE HIGH PRICE OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP -- part 8

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

By Steve Wright

Daimler’s car2go car launched in Austin, Texas with several features unique to car sharing. Members are not required to commit to a specified time or location to return the vehicle, but rather have the flexibility to use the vehicle as needed in an open-ended fashion. The member is charged for actual usage per minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. Rates include costs for fuel, parking, mileage, maintenance and insurance.

The car2g0 fleet of free-floating, low-emissions, fuel efficient (41 mpg) self-service Smart fortwo cars is distributed all over the city. The Smart fortwo cars -- the most fuel efficient non-hybrid vehicles in the United States -- can be accessed spontaneously, or reserved up to 24 hours in advance. For “on-demand” access, members simply swipe their membership card against the vehicle’s windshield.

More than 200 car2go vehicles are accessible to the 13,000 City of Austin employees for both business and individual use, making it one of the largest deployments of
fuel efficient vehicles in a car sharing program in a single North American city. Anyone with a car2go membership can easily locate available Smart Cars by using the internet, a mobile device, or the car2go call center.

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