In densely populated American cities, where traffic, parking and insurance are all prohibitive, car sharing is revving up. It makes good financial sense: Zipcars rent for $8.50 an hour on average and the renter doesn’t pay for insurance or gas (there’s a gas card for refills). There are now 15 car-sharing companies in about 20 U.S. cities and membership has doubled since last year.
The biggest growth has been in two companies going national–Boston’s Zipcar and Seattle’s Flexcar. The only big difference between the two renters is that Zipcar takes reservations online; you have to call the Flexcar people. But the security system and pricing are similar. After scrutinizing your driving record and taking a $20 annual fee, Zipcar sends you a key card. The car unlocks when you pass the card over a reader in the windshield–the onboard computer won’t let you open the door until your reservation starts. And don’t even think of trying anything fancy. Last year a Zipcar member took off and never brought the car back. The company’s techies remotely disabled the starter and tracked it down via radio frequency.
The companies rely on members not only to return the cars on time, but to help keep them gassed and clean. And they do, especially as members get to know each other at happy hours, pizza parties and bowling nights that are hosted by the companies. Flexcar members have even taken to crossing their arms in an X (imitating the Flexcar logo) when they see each other. “During the big snowstorm last year, we had some members volunteer to shovel out the cars,” says Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith. “I’m still amazed sometimes how this works.”
