CAR2GO – new car share program
I took this picture on April 14th when I was around Science World getting pictures of the viaducts and the Olympic Village. This was just one of those “never heard of that before” moments – and, frankly, I forgot all about it until scanning through the backlog looking for stuff to put on flickr. Rather than just put up a picture I googled car2go and found a bit on wikipedia which intrigued me. And since there seemed to be some sort of mystery I tweeted and facebooked too. Ah the power of social media. This morning I get an invitation to a press conference on Wednesday with Mayor Roberston. They tell me:
car2go is an innovative mobility solution redefining individual transportation in urban areas. A subsidiary of Daimler, it provides an innovative mode of “on-demand” transportation which compliments existing public transportation alternatives by bridging the gaps commonly associated with the “first and last mile” of a public transit commute. car2go offers an extensive fleet of environment-friendly smart “car2go edition” vehicles with solar roof for rent. Unlike traditional carsharing programs, car2go vehicles can be accessed “on-demand,” and members may use the vehicle for as long as they like, without committing to a specific location or time to return the vehicle. Charges are based on minutes used and include fuel, insurance, parking and maintenance.
After launching the program in the city of Ulm, Germany as a pilot project in 2008, Austin, Texas was the first US city launched in November 2009 followed by the German city of Hamburg in April 2011.
To date, car2go has reached more than 20.000 customers in Ulm and 15,000 registered members in Austin and is set to undergo significant expansion in North America in 2011.
Seems like there is to be a new car sharing service in town – expect more as soon as I can get something on line on Wednesday. If only I had posted the picture when I had taken it I could have claimed a scoop. I beat wikipedia by a day in getting the image.
UPDATE April 25, 2011
I have been informed that there was a limited trial assessment running in Vancouver last year.
Stephen Rees's blog 
So will this draw more people out of cars, or more people off buses and bikes?
Mark
April 26, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Experience with car sharing so far is that it enables people to reduce their car ownership and their reliance on cars. With a pool of vehicles available to them they no longer need to own a car – or a financial incentive to overuse a car. Car co-op members are more likely to be transit or bike commuters
Stephen Rees
April 26, 2011 at 7:08 pm