Growing up, I couldn't wait to get a car. Like most teenagers, I couldn't wait for the freedom and fun that having my own car would provide. Day trips to the beach with friends. Late night trips to the 24-hour diner. It wasn't until I got to college and bought my first car that I really learned what a headache having your own vehicle can mean.
First, you have to buy the car, which is usually a rather sizable investment. Then the car needs tags and a title. There's a monthly insurance bill, and let's not forget about gas, which is hovering around $3.00 a gallon right now. Top it off with unexpected repair bills and owing a car can be quite an expensive proposition. As a matter of fact, the American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that the average person pays about $650 per month to own and maintain a vehicle, a price which includes everything except parking.
A lot of people find that they either can not afford their own vehicle, or that they don't drive enough to justify the expense of owning a car. Until recently, the only alternatives for these people were to rely on public transportation, walking/biking, or expensive taxi cabs. Luckily, a new option called "car sharing" is starting to gain popularity and if you live in a major metropolitan area, chances are it is coming to city near you.
Many people have never heard of car sharing or don't know much about it. Car sharing is basically an arrangement where individuals or groups of people share access to vehicles, which are usually found in convenient, common locations. People generally pay a small fee to use the car by the hour or by the day, and this fee generally includes all of the expenses associated with driving, including gas, insurance, maintenance, etc.
Here's how car sharing works: first, you sign up for your local car sharing service. (Click here for a link to a complete listing of all of the various car sharing services in the U.S.) Signing up usually involves paying a small fee (generally $60 or less) and agreeing to a background & driving record check. After you are approved for membership, the car sharing service will usually provide you with some sort of "access card" that will allow you to access the shared vehicles, as well as complete details on all the particulars of their service.
When you want to use a car, you just go online or make a phone call and reserve one of the available vehicles for however long you wish. When your reservation time arrives, you simply go to vehicle (the car sharing service will be able to tell you specifically where your reserved car should be parked), unlock the doors with your access card, obtain the key from inside the vehicle, and then drive pretty much anywhere you want.
A computer inside the car keeps track of all of your trip data. At the end of your reservation, you just park the car where you got it, return the keys to where you found them, and then lock the card using your access card. The car sharing service then collects the information about your trip and bills you accordingly, usually to a credit or debit card that you have provided.
At first glance, this may seem a lot like renting a car, but car sharing is actually quite different from traditional car rental. First, using a car sharing service is much more convenient than renting a car. After completing an initial application process, you are pre-approved to drive any car that your car sharing service offers. When you rent a car, you have to fill out paperwork and sign a contract each time. Car sharing vehicles are usually conveniently parked throughout urban areas, so you can pick up a car where it's convenient for you as opposed to a centrally-located rental office. Plus, once you have a membership, the reservation process is very quick...it take less than 2 minutes to reserve a car, and with most services you can reserve an available vehicle as little as 10 minutes before you need it.
Car sharing also makes good financial sense. As previously stated, the car sharing company pays for the gas and insurance that you need to provide. These are things that you have to pay for on your own with traditional car rentals. Also, most car sharing services let you rent their cars by the hour, instead of by the day. When you realize that most people drive their cars for less than an hour and a half per day, it's easy to see why car sharing could be the most cost effective option for people who drive infrequently.
If you've read this far and it sounds like car sharing is for you, let me encourage you to "take the plunge" and contact your local car sharing service. Most major cities, including Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and many more currently have car sharing services. If there's not a car sharing service in your city, don't fret. Car sharing is catching on like wildfire, and chances are that if you live near a mid- to large-sized city, you'll have car sharing in your area before you know it. With the growing financial and environmental costs of vehicle ownership, you can be sure that car sharing isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
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