Posted on August 9th, 2008 by Ben
It appears U Car Share has made some changes, and they are for the better. I spoke of them last month and might have said some fairly strong criticisms about them, but it was in hope they would change for the better.
The changes are small, for now, but they include:
- A new website that has a smarter appearance
- Cars are now available 24/7 rather than only when the U-Haul location is open
- They mention that they will be adding additional models of cars once they grow.
The
website just launched, and is still buggy - you get an error page when you search for cars or try to join, but hopefully that will change within the next 24-48 hours. In the meantime, it is good to see they are starting to make the changes needed to survive the carsharing business.
Filed under: U Car Share
Posted on August 9th, 2008 by Ben
It looks like Zipcar is feeling the pinch of higher prices! As of August 18th, they are raising prices in all markets without a revenue guarantee, with one exception. They are also supposedly raising the per mile price(once the 180 free miles are used) by $.10.
They are also expanding their weekend rates to virtually all cities. Weekend rates are higher than weekday rates, and they attempt to move demand to times when fewer people are renting. Some commercial districts will have higher weekday rates than weekend rates though, b/c demand is during the week. It gives people a ‘discount’ to move driving to the weekdays rather than everybody doing their shopping on Saturday afternoon.
Depending on the city, rate increases can vary from non-existent, to $.75/hour and $9/day. How does your city fare? Here’s the rundown:
Read more…
Filed under: Zipcar
Posted on August 1st, 2008 by Ben
Uh-oh. Looks like PhillyCarShare has had some vandalism problems, per their website:
Important Notice: Gas cards have been removed from all PhillyCarShare vehicles on a temporary basis due to repeated and widespread vandalism to the vehicles. In order to keep your cars in service (so you can use them!) we must take this precaution…
Looks as if the gas crisis has hit PhillyCarShare again. This seems to be a very new message, as the gas card was still in my MINI I rented earlier today. I wonder if they will be replacing their gas cards with new ones as Zipcar is, where you key in your Zipcard number. They will need to find a solution, and quick, if they don’t want to piss off their members.
What do you think the solution is? Have you seen any of the gas cards swiped? Discuss it here.
Filed under: Carsharing World
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Ben
Look at the fleet of most carsharing organizations in the United States today, and you’ll see a lot of similarities: fuel-efficient, hybrids, cute, and barebones. Most of the cars are ‘fleet’ cars, and come with almost no options, and generally have the smallest engine choice as well. This subtle point, in my mind, will be the big difference between carsharing remaining a niche product, and driving it into the mainstream. I’ll discuss this a little more, as well as give a list of 5 ‘carshare-friendly’ luxury cars that won’t break the bank.
Read more…
Filed under: Carsharing World, Technology
Posted on July 27th, 2008 by Ben
Had a long weekend including a 700-mile roadtrip from Chicago to Philly(don’t ask), and am exhausted. I apologize for the lack of posts in the past few days, and promise new posts coming tomorrow.
Filed under: Carsharing World
Posted on July 25th, 2008 by Ben
PhillyCarShare will be adding three new car models shortly: The Acura TL, Scion xD, and Toyota Corolla. The xD and Corolla are meant to temporarily replace hybrids leaving the fleet, and the TL will be a new addition to the upscale line that PhillyCarShare has.
Clayton Lane, AICP and Deputy Executive Director of PhillyCarShare, says that the Scion and Toyota will both be priced in their lowest tier. The Acura will be priced in its highest tier which currently has cars such as the BMW 328i and Lexus IS 250. All three models will only have a handful across the city, at least for now. Initial locations have not been announced yet.
On the subject of PhillyCarShare, Lane also confirmed that PCS signed up its 55,000th member this week. This comes shortly after news of their 50,000th member being signed up last month.
Oh, and no picture with this blogpost because Wordpress is being difficult.
What do you think? Good car choices or bad? Talk about it in the forum.
Filed under: PhillyCarShare
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by Ben
It appears that Los Angeles is trying to get Zipcar back. The nation’s second largest city is reportedly debating whether or not to give free parking in neighborhoods near the two LA colleges Zipcar still has cars: USC and UCLA. The move would possibly give a second chance at carsharing in LA.
Flexcar, after the Zipcar merger but prior to the integration, pulled out of San Diego and LA, save for its revenue-guaranteed college locations, back in February. Between the two cities, it had about 800 members, and 40 cars in each city.
A lot has changed since then. Gas has shot up about 50% in the LA area(although it is starting to come down), the economy has soured a bit, and people are realizing they need to reign in costs.
Zipcar may be able to make a strong second showing and grow the market. This time, they can grow organically starting near the colleges where they have a memberbase established. Their X factor will be whether their previous members will come back to them; many of them may not want to be left high and dry a second time.
Does Zipcar have what it takes to return to LA? Respond in the forum.
(photo credit: Nserrano)
Filed under: Zipcar
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by Ben
One of the biggest problems with carsharing is the lack of making one-way journeys. It means that needing to go a short distance for the day can cost $50 or more, depending on your carsharing outfit. If this problem can be solved, then you will open the floodgates to new people who want to carshare.
Mathematician and Zipster Tanya Khovanova offers a possible solution to the one-way carsharing problem: Read more…
Filed under: Carsharing World, Hertz, Nashville
Posted on July 21st, 2008 by Ben
Today marks the first day of Zipcar’s low car diet. In all of their major markets, participants will get $100 zipcar credit, mass transit pass, and various other schwag depending on their market, including Whole Foods gift card, health club passes, VitaminWater, etc.
The program is meant to show how people can cut the personal car out of their lives, save money, help the environment, and still be able to get around conveniently. Zipcar will be posting blogs and video from participants throughout the event at the site above for people at home to keep updated.
This is very similar to PhillyCarShare’s WalkRideShare event they ran in May. It would make sense too, seeing how that event was a success as well, according to ‘Dennis’, one of the participants:
Read more…
Filed under: Zipcar
Posted on July 20th, 2008 by Ben
This weekly post summarizes, and occasionally lightly discusses, some of the more minor pieces of carsharing news throughout the week. In this issue:
- PhillyCarShare retires last of their Beetle Convertibles
- HourCar adding 10 more Priuses over next two years
- CTA gives 45 more El parking spots to Zipcar and I-GO Chicago
Now the full stories: Read more…
Filed under: HourCar, I-GO, Odds and Ends, PhillyCarShare, Zipcar
