Car Sharing
Contents
What is Car Sharing?
Car sharing means exactly that. Instead of owning a car, you share it with other drivers. A number of large counties and cities are partnering with for-profit car-sharing programs to offer alternatives to owning a car in urban settings. Car-sharing programs allow the consumer to rent cars by the hour. Hourly rates include parking, gas, insurance, and maintenance of the vehicle.
Carsharing programs can compliment transit ridership programs. A car share option gives transit commuters added flexibility for access when a fixed line, fixed schedule system doesn't meet their needs. See also King County Metro VanShare Program.
The two major private companies, Flexcar and ZipCar, offer a variety of cars, including hybrids, trucks, and even mini-vans - to rent by the hour. Although cars can be rented for any length of time, the rate structures are ideally suited for those quick trips around town and not necessarily designed for the weekend visit to the country. Customers make reservations via computer or telephone, and the company uses remote-access systems to control use of the car.
There are also a number of smaller not-for-profit co-ops that are considerably less high-tech, as can be seen on the Car Sharing Network Web site. This Web site also has links to a number of news articles.
General Program Information
- Car Sharing Network - Informative site with links to news articles and both profit and not for profit carsharing coops.
- Eartheasy.com - Informative site with world wide links.
- ZipCar - Currently serving Boston, New York and Washington DC, with plans to expand soon into other cities in the US Northeast.
- City CarShare - Currently serving San Francisco CA and the greater Bay area with a fleet of 27 VW Beetles.
- Car Link II/Flexicar (Palo Alto)
- Carlink II: Research Approach and Early Findings, by Susan Shaheen, University of California, Berkeley, 9-04
- Carlink II: A Commuter Carsharing Pilot Program Final Report, by Susan Shaheen, University of California, Berkeley, 9-04
- Flexcar Brings Car-Sharing Program to Palo Alto, Press Release, July 12, 2002
- Boulder CarShare - Boulder, CO city-wide carshare program.
- Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) - Vehicle Rental Services that Substitute for Private Vehicle Ownership (Part of the VTPI Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Encyclopedia)
- Car-sharing Program One Answer to County’s Transit-System Woes - National Association of Counties County News On-Line, April 2004
- Car-Sharing--Where and How It Succeeds (
10.42 MB), TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 108, Transportation Research Board, 2005