By Brian Skeele, on March 20th, 2011
Oh my God! We can share stuff, even cars!
Sustainable living with a carshare!
Can you imagine, you can rent out your car by the hour??!! yep, human ingenuity strikes again. You probably have heard of Zipcars, and other private car share programs. Well, another variation on the concept, peer to peer car sharing, is coming on line. RelayRides in Boston claims their participating car owners can earn up to $8000 a year by renting out their cars. With different Smartphone interfaces, integrated web cam configurations, and insurance packages tailored to the club program, a variety of business models have sprung up around the planet. …
WhipCar, based in the UK, has automated all bookings and screening of all drivers and car owners who join the service. The service is present in 450 towns and cities across the UK. Funded with major venture capital in October 2009, they signed up over 1000 cars within six months of launch. I love this!
Imagine living in a walkable mixed use neighborhood, with pedestrian friendly streets, and saving the money you currently spend on car ownership, monthly payments, insurance, oil changes, and repairs. And when you need a car, you can rent one. Or you could eliminate one of the cars in your household, and rent out the one you keep, when you’re not using it!
I’ve heard it said one car share eliminates 8-10 cars. Your community now needs less parking, and has less traffic as transit ridership increases. You have more disposable income to support local food or start a new career. Collectively, we own less stuff, and our eco footprint goes down. A higher of cooperation is conveniently built into our lifestyle, the quality of life is going up. This is yet another way we can make sustainable real!!