[sustran] "The word is out. Carsharing is cool. That changes everything. Be cool!"

Eric Britton eric.britton at ecoplan.org
Wed Sep 27 17:28:29 JST 2006


I find it fascinating the way in which we collectively migrate toward certain
ideas. A form of swarm intelligence, not to give it too fancy a name. 

 

This came to mind in reading the Slate article that Chris Bradshaw kindly sent
on yesterday. The 'cool factor' as they call it.  (Actually I do not altogether
go for the author's read of what is really cool about carsharing (the BMW et al
bits), but what's important is that he thinks carsharing is cool, and in that he
is right. See the new top menu of http://worldcarshare.com for more.).

 

This whole matter of coolness has been very much on the griddle around here for
the last couple of years and in public sessions on carsharing I always make a
point of describing it, not just one more buzz but much more importantly as part
of a process of evolving individual and collective attitudes. 

 

And on top of that, everyone knows that if something is to be cool, it's because
there is also something else on the screen that is . . . 

 

Uncool: The truth really begins from the other side of the coin: namely the
extent to which the burdens of car ownership have so piled up in the last
decades that is it only now when we start to have options that we can begin to
weigh the full cost and considerable uncomfort of owning, operating and paying
for your own and largely unused (95 % of the time, let's say) car.  At least if
you live in a city where carsharing might be an option. (As it is for most
cities, BTW.)

 

Once the new behavior pattern has set in, and most often without people's being
altogether aware of it, there is a gradual underlying cultural change that takes
place. Our attitude toward both getting around begins to change, and in parallel
about how we do it. A certain sense of urgency and impatience, which is at the
very heart of the car culture (and at the soul of most traffic accidents),
gradually begins to dissipate and a new set of attitudes begin to take over.
For example in quite a number of instances: "I probably will not die if I do not
take my car to do this or that right now!".  That's cool, wouldn't you say?

 

For the rest I leave it to you to fill in the blanks.

 

Eric Britton

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: WorldCarShare at yahoogroups.com [mailto:WorldCarShare at yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Chris Bradshaw
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:48 PM
To: WorldCarShare at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [WorldCarShare] Slate article on carsharing

 

The following article is very positive, but builds up the "cool" factor. 
It explains why the big companies compete in a few cities, but leave
so many others with no service.

Even economboxes and not-so-clean cars can be cool, if you want to
make a statement about how ridiculous the "car culture" has become.

Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa

= = = = = = 

SELL YOUR CAR
Car sharing is the ultimate pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle option
for upwardly mobile, status-conscious yuppies - like me. 

by Paul Boutin, in San Francisco (reprinted in the _National
Post_, September 19, 2006, with credit to
http://www.slate. <http://www.slate.com/id/2148632/,> com/id/2148632/, where it
appeared on 
September 5th in the Gearbox section, with the title,
"Key Party: Zipcar makes car sharing sexy, not sorry")

Carpools, hybrids, buses that run on banana peels - it's too bad
car sharing gets lumped in as another save-the-Earth guilt trip.
Here in San Francisco, a hybrid plastered with City CarShare 
logos is the only politically correct way to be seen behind the
wheel by your poetry-slam buddies. Challenge CarShare members on
their dubious eco-friendly stance (they're still driving, aren't
they?) and they retreat to liberal high ground: "It's a nonprofit
.." If only City CarShare could lose $50 million a year, it'd be
as hip as public transit. 

The dirty secret of car sharing is that it's not just for the
environmentally or economically conscious. Car sharing is the
ultimate pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle option for upwardly mobile,
status-conscious, free-spending yuppies like me. So far this
year, I've blown close to $4,000 on Zipcar , the unabashedly
for-profit counterpart to City CarShare. (Flexcar is a similar
but less upmarket service available in eight locations.) I joined
in January when my own vehicle needed long-term repairs. After it
came back from the shop, I found myself making excuses to keep
renting Zipcars instead. The company's official slogan is,
"Wheels when you want them," but Zipcar's obvious appeal is,
"wheels you really want." For $8.50 to $12.50 an hour - gas and
insurance included - I can choose from a Mustang, a Mini (and a
Mini convertible), a Mazda, three brand new BMW 325i's - silver
for daytime, navy for nightlife - an Escape, a Toyota truck, even
a Volvo to visit Mom. 

I book cars online using the company's Web 2.0-inspired
scheduling application: no need to deal with unpredictable
rental-agency humans. I hit zipcar.com, click my choice, then
walk to the parking lot where my new silver Mustang - mine for
the next five hours, at least - waits in its stall, keys hanging
in plain sight inside. I place my member card on the windshield
and - _fweep-beep_ - the car unlocks for me. Ten seconds later,
I'm rolling. 

Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Robin Chase, an MIT management grad 
who applied an Internet mind-set to the problems of urban
transportation. The economics of car sharing are simple: City
dwellers love to drive themselves, but car owners who don't
commute waste money and valuable real estate on vehicles that sit
idle for days at a time. Car sharing shifts a smaller number of
cars into a much higher duty cycle. Economies of scale kick in
for everyone - fleet prices for cars, corporate rates for fuel
(there's a gas card on the visor of each car), group insurance,
long-term parking bought in bulk. The company handles maintenance
and washing, too. 

But most important, car sharing turns members into automotive
swingers, free from having to commit to one model. In the city,
middle-class people own _a_ nice car. Rich people own _lots_ of
them. Zipcar makes me feel rich. 

A recent week for me went like this: On Monday evening, the wife
called me to pick her up after a late night at the office. I
logged in and eyeballed the grid of available cars on our
neighborhood lots. I could get a Mazda 3, but I saw a Mini
available at 9 p.m. for a couple bucks more. Could she wait an
extra 10 minutes? I rolled up in her favorite little red wagon
and carted her home via the scenic route. We had to walk the last
few blocks home from the lot, but it beat trying to squeeze our
own car past our neighbor's in the alley at 10 p.m. 

When I got home, I found mail from a friend coming to town for a
weekend. I reserved the red Mini - then switched to the blue
convertible - for all three days. The next morning I was summoned
to a meeting in another county. Zipcar's Web site showed a Prius
and a Mazda a block away, but by walking a bit farther I was able
to pick up my business date in a shiny new BMW.

This is where Zipcar departs from standard car-share marketing.
City CarShare plasters supersize logos on all of its autos. It's
not just advertising, it's a way for members to flaunt their
non-car-owning status. But if you're renting a Beemer to court
clients, a bunch of stickers sends exactly the wrong message.
That's why the pricier your Zipcar, the more low-key its
branding. The econoboxes sport jaunty decals on their passenger
doors . A 325i has discreet black "zipcar.com" lettering on its
trunk lid but nothing on the front or sides. I drove a silver BMW
from Boston to Bar Harbor and back over Memorial Day weekend. I
caught plenty of guff from Mainers for my Massachusetts license
plate, but not one word about the URL. 

My only beef with the service is they need to wash the cars more
often. A rented 3 Series is cool, a dirty one is not. With a bit
more bling, Zipcar could erase the stigma from car sharing once
and for all. What they need is a halo car - a tastefully posh
Bentley Continental GT garaged at AT&T Park for high-rolling
Giants fans. How about $100 an hour? At that price, it shouldn't
say Zipcar on it at all. It wouldn't need to. People would know. 

Paul Boutin is a Silicon Valley-based writer who also contributes
to _Business Week_, _Wired_, and _Engadget_

 

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