Car Share Programs
Angela
Palermo
Car shares are local programs that allow members to pay for the use
of vehicles on an hourly basis. Some
members do not actually own their own car, while others use car share
vehicles to supplement their own. Car
Share organizers believe that sharing vehicles have manifest benefits
for both members and the community at large. These
include reducing traffic/congestion, helping the environment and
lessening dependence on fossil fuels.
There are three main types of car share programs:
1) For profit companies such as Flexcar and Zipcar.
2) Local non-profits such Boulder CarShare (in
Boulder
,
CO
) and City CarShare in
San Francisco
.
3) Very small, grassroots group—usually small groups of
friends/neighbors sharing a vehicle.
I had two lengthy discussions with Karen Worminghaus, Executive
Director of Boulder CarShare, about the program in
Boulder
.
Boulder CarShare formed in 1997, but did not put its first car on the
streets until January 2001. All
BCS cars have been donated, many by members.
They have never paid for any of their vehicles.
Presently, BCS has six vehicles (five passenger cars and one
pickup truck) strategically placed around
Boulder
. These locations are Table
Mesa & Broadway, near the Tea House downtown, outside
Boulder
Community
Hospital
, Broadway & Quince and
Naropa
University
’s Paramita campus (30th & Iris).
Between formation in 1997 and full operation in 2001, BCS wrote their
manual & business plan
and investigated insurance coverage.
They also wrote federal grant proposals, but did not receive any
federal money. BCS began
with ten members and presently has sixty members.
Their membership has grown “organically” by word of mouth.
Boulder CarShares membership fee structure is as follows:
1) $25.00 application
fee—goes toward BCS’s insurance payments.
Members do not need their own insurance unless they own their own
vehicles.
2) $90.00 joining fee—not due until the end of a three month trial
period
3) $10.00 monthly fee (for active members)
4) User fees when renting a vehicle are $1/hour and $0.50/hour
BCS has a phone based reservation system.
They hope to have a Web based reservation system up and running
in the next few months. A
Web based system would be more user friendly and allow members to see
what cars are available immediately (without having to proceed through a
complicated phone tree to check on every vehicle’s availability).
Insurance has by far been the greatest expense for Boulder CarShare.
Many for-profit insurance companies do not want to insure car
shares and when they do it is at very expensive rates.
Only in 2006 did BCS find a non-profit insurer with reasonable
rates.
For more information, visit Boulder CarShare’s website:
www.carshare.org
