Dr. Susan Shaheen and the team at Innovative Mobility Research at UC Berkely released the latest totals for North American carsharing:As of July 2008, 19 U.S. carsharing programs claimed 279,174 members sharing 5,838 vehicles. As of July 2008, 39,664 members shared 1,667 vehicles among 14 carsharing organizations in Canada.
That's a 23:1 national member to vehicle ratio in Canada and 47: 1 ratio for the US.
And rumors of impending moves by car rental companies into carsharing are keeping the news media busy.
USA Today, 9/29/08: Car rental companies get into the business of sharing (Thanks for the use of the photo.)
Wall Street Journal, 10.1.08: Battle Looms Over Carsharing
Not owning a car in San Francisco is a big benefit to me,'' said Kamisugi, 36, who lives in the parking-deprived Inner Richmond District. Car-sharing "fills the gap between my use of public transportation and the times when I need a car. So many people in the Bay Area are interested in car-sharing that two for-profit companies have joined nonprofit pioneer City CarShare in the market -- and all three are surviving and growing.
ReplyDelete----------------------
Bobwilliams
opinion leader
I've been asked if a user can make a reservation for a Car2Go?
ReplyDeleteAnswer yes (according to the web site) - up to 24 hours in advance, either via internet or call center. At 15 mins. before your trip start time you get an SMS message to your cell phone telling you the location of the vehicle.
(You do have a cell phone, don't you? And you do know how read your text messages on your cell phone, don't you?)