Do You CarShare?

Before you put a ton of cash and energy into winterizing your vehicles... think about car sharing.

Car sharing… good for the environment, good for your wallet, and one less thing to own and worry about.

Wikipedia describes Carsharing as a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. They are attractive to customers who make only occasional use of a vehicle, as well as others who would like occasional access to a vehicle of a different type than they use day-to-day. The organization renting the cars may be a commercial business or the users may be organized as a democratically-controlled company, public agency, cooperative, or ad hoc grouping. Today there are more than one thousand cities in the world where people can carshare.  You can get a list of carsharing companies in North America at CarSharing.net.

Carsharing differs from traditional car rentals in the following ways:

• Carsharing is not limited by office hours
• Reservation, pickup, and return is all self-service
• Vehicles can be rented by the hour, as well as by the day
• Users are members and have been pre-approved to drive (background driving checks have been performed and a payment mechanism has been established)
• Vehicle locations are distributed throughout the service area, and often located for access by public transportation.
• Vehicles are not always serviced (cleaned, gas filled up) after each use

Urban car sharing is often promoted as an alternative to owning a car where public transportation, walking, and biking can be used most of the time, and a car is only necessary for out-of-town trips, moving large items, or special occasions. It can also be an alternative to owning multiple cars for households with more than one driver. A long-term study of City CarShare members by Robert Cervero, Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkley, found that 30 percent of households that joined a CarShare program sold a car while others delayed purchasing one. Transit use, biking, and walking also increased among members

Over 50 years ago, Margaret Mead wrote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

In the fall of 2002, five Philadelphians, all volunteers, set out to reduce automobile dependence citywide. Low-emission vehicles on every block, available by the hour and round the clock, would replace people's need to own cars and overuse them. In a city known well for its many "firsts" but not for its pretension, PhillyCarShare's founders demonstrated the grassroots innovation and achievement that Margaret Mead once described.  Check out Philly Car Share. 

My agency, Pathways to Housing, Inc., uses Philly Car Share.  We are a non-profit service organization and the idea of green economical transporation is very appealing to us.  We work in the community with homeless folks suffering with mental illness and the flexibility of carshare meets our needs very well.

My husband and I are also members because we don’t want to own more than one vehicle, but occasionally need a second ride. 

I encourage you to check out the car sharing agencies in your area.  Companies differ as some are non-profit like Philly Car Share and others are for-profit entities like Zip Car.  Do the research to find a company and a plan that works for you.  Personally, wanting to support a non-profit was part of why we belong to Philly CarShare. 

Not having a car to worry about, oil to change, gas to buy, tires to rotate, etc. is very very freeing.

If you are in the Philly area, and do happen to sign up with Philly Car Share, please mention Pathways to Housing as your referral source.  We would greatly appreciate the credit for the referral.

Comment and let us know about your own car sharing experiences.