ZipCar - Car Option For Non-Owners

BOSTON Dec 30, 2004; Mark Jewell writing for the AP reported on ZipCar a car sharing business based in Cambridge MA. "When I moved to this pedestrian-friendly city with plentiful public transit and pricey parking, I said goodbye to auto repair bills, insurance premiums and gas pumps. Recently divorced, without kids to ferry around, I realized my dream of living car-free. But I still need wheels for the occasional errand or day trip.

My options today are far greater than they would've been just five years ago, thanks to the marriage of Internet and voice-line technology with wireless communications. Customers make reservations via computer or telephone, and the company uses remote-access systems to control who can use the car when.

The two biggest car-sharing companies, Zipcar and Seattle-based Flexcar, are still pretty small.

Zipcar offers more than 400 cars to its 30,000 typically well-educated and young customers in congested Boston, Washington and New York. It plans to hit at least three more U.S. metropolitan areas in 2005 with hopes of reaching a total of 25 North American markets within five years.

Flexcar has 350 vehicles serving 25,000 members in more than 20 cities from Seattle to Washington, D.C.

Both services rent cars around the clock in increments of a half-hour or longer. Prices in Boston range from $8.50 an hour to $12.50, depending on the vehicle model. Gas is included. That's not bad when you also factor in the insurance, maintenance and repair costs that come with ownership.

Car-sharing services also offer daily rates as low as $60, though conventional rentals are more economical to rent for more than a day at a time.

I signed up five months ago, choosing among several plans tailored toward either occasional or frequent drivers. I paid a $25 application fee and a $100 refundable membership deposit. Zipcar then checked my driving record. In less than a week, I received a membership card that serves as my key and can be used in any Zipcar city.

To make a reservation, I simply visit Zipcar's Web site and am immediately directed to my personal Zipcar page — my computer retains my logon information. If a computer's not handy, I can phone in the reservation.

Online, I get a list of five cars in assigned parking spaces within a few blocks of my apartment. I can also sort the list by rates or the cars I rent most frequently. I also see a round-the-clock schedule indicating which cars are available when.

I always found a car within walking distance when I needed one, and my steady road partner — a Ford Focus that Zipcar has named "Focus Fabiana" — lives in a parking space a couple blocks away. During the most popular driving times, she could be sharing her affections with another Zipcar customer, leaving me to resort to a Honda a couple blocks farther afield, with the handle "Element Ephraim."

When my time comes, I walk to the parking spot — an online map tells me how to get there — and pull out my membership card. I place the card over a radio-frequency reader beneath the windshield, and the doors unlock immediately and keylessly.

Zipcar's computer had already sent a message to a hidden dashboard computer telling the car to unlock itself only when my personal card went across the reader during my reservation period. Had I arrived too early, entry would have been denied.

Inside my Zipcar, the key is hanging from a cord near the ignition — which would appear to be an unwise place to leave a key in the city. But the ignition unlocks only after I presented my card, so nobody else can break in and start the car.

Flexcar's system works a little differently. Its card unlocks the doors, but the customer enters a personal ID into a dashboard display to enable ignition — a step that Zipcar handles during the reservation process, rather than after entry.

As a result, Flexcar customers can enter a car using their card anytime, without needing reservations, provided nobody else has reserved the car.

After I start my Zipcar, I can drive as far as I want and refuel using a Zipcar card at the company's expense — gas is factored into the hourly rates, along with insurance.

These days, I reserve cars for an extra half-hour to be on the safe side, even though I have to pay for the time if I return the car early. I learned the hard way about the $25 minimum late fee when I got stuck in traffic and couldn't get back in time.

Zipcar and Flexcar can both wirelessly track when the car's engine has been turned off to determine whether to assess a late fee. Pretty clever.

Both companies are continually refining their technologies. In partnership with wireless carrier Cingular, Zipcar is boosting the data capacity of its wireless platform so it can offer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity inside its cars.

When that day comes, I hope I will resist the temptation to surf the Web while simultaneously dodging traffic. However many extras come along, for me the big appeal of car sharing is simple: mobility without being tied down to car ownership.

If car-sharing comes to your town, consider trying it. You might find greater freedom in not owning a car.