Blogs » Sami_G » Who Needs to Own When You Can Share...

For many folks in urban environments, owning a car is seen as a necessity, yet they may only use that car once a week for trips to the store, or to run occasional errands. After all, walking, or using mass transit, is often more efficient in a big city. Owning a car, even when you use it rarely, costs money. Aside from the capital outlay of purchasing the vehicle, running costs like tax, insurance, and maintenance still need to be met. Car sharing clubs, like Zip Car or Flex Car, where members get use of a fleet of well maintained, modern vehicles which they pay for as they use them, are the perfect solution for those of us who don’t need to drive every day.

By paying an hourly fee, plus fuel costs, members are only charged for what they use. Aside from creating access to modern, efficient cars for those who might not otherwise afford them, the system also creates an incentive to drive less. For car owner, many of the costs of metering remain the same whether they use the vehicle or not – you only end up paying for fuel each time you drive. With car share these costs are directly related to the amount of mileage you clock up – the less you drive, the less you pay on all your motoring costs, not just fuel. My brother, for example, has not used the car share once since he joined - though he admits that it's really reassuring to know he has a car at his fingertips whenever he needs it.

And the concept is taking off. While early car sharing clubs were marketed solely at the environmentally conscious, they have more recently realized that the benefits of avoiding ownership make car sharing a very attractive proposition to urban dwellers, whether they are concerned with the environment or not. Philly Car Share for example, has made great efforts to reach a broad cross section of Philadelphia’s population, and it announced last year that it had signed up its 30,000th member! When it comes to motoring, ownership ain’t everything. Now if they could only make it work in the country...


Keywords: car share zip product service systems transport cities

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