  Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 901 Registered: 10-2003 |
It would seem that this could work here. http://www.popcitymedia.com/fe atures/0516flexcars.aspx | ||
Buddyinrichmond Member Username: Buddyinrichmond Post Number: 173 Registered: 02-2004 |
Can it pull a plow to turn my back 40 for the full pioneer experience? | ||
Tomoh Member Username: Tomoh Post Number: 300 Registered: 11-2004 |
There was Motor City Car Share, not sure if that ever got off the ground and the Ann Arbor car-sharing co-op. None of the national chains seemed interested in Detroit. | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 24 Registered: 04-2007 |
Flexcar is in Ann Arbor, I believe. It operates pretty well in Seattle. I've seen flexcar vehicles in several parking lots there. | ||
River_rat Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 268 Registered: 02-2006 |
What works well elsewhere may not necessarily work well in Detroit. This Zipcar/Flexcar concept works well in Switzerland and other areas such as Seattle. Detroit is not Switzerland or Seattle. | ||
Gdub Member Username: Gdub Post Number: 1096 Registered: 10-2003 |
They have Zipcar in Chicago, and it's common to see their Volvos and Hondas and whatever parked in lots around town in groups of two or three. It's around $10 an hour to use a car, with a $50 signup fee. It makes a lot of sense in a densely populated area where many people live without a car and may need one to run an errand to the burbs or whatever. I don't think it would fly in Detroit. Most people have their transport, and leaving a nice car parked in a lot unattended for days at a time, well, you know. | ||
Malcovemagnesia Member Username: Malcovemagnesia Post Number: 26 Registered: 12-2005 |
In San Francisco where I live, there's both Zipcar and Flexicar and instead of using either of those, I just rent from Hertz "Local Edition" down the street from my apartment. For the weekends I usually want to have a car and the duration I want to keep it (over an entire weekend), Hertz is always cheaper than Zip or Flex. Even with a weekday Zip & Flexicar rental (if they really do price out at $10 per hour), a traditional car rental company would probably be cheaper. In my view, the only place where these new car share business models beat out the traditional car rental companies is in the super short term rentals... e.g. less than a few hours within a day. Additionally, you have to haul yourself over to a parking lot where you can pick up your car share car. In cities with decent public transit like San Fran, Seattle or Chicago, that's easy. Detroit? HA HA! Car share isn't going to be viable in Detroit for at least a few more years. | ||
Abracadabra Member Username: Abracadabra Post Number: 24 Registered: 04-2007 |
"When a Flexcar member needs to use a car, he or she can visit the Web site to see which cars are available, make a reservation and then go retrieve the car, touching the Flexcard to the car’s windshield reader. After the trip, the Flexcar must be returned to its assigned parking space." How far are you going to need to travel to pick up the car? And what are you going to do when the security guards slash the tires and blow out the windows? | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1658 Registered: 05-2005 |
motor city car share is still active as far as i know. i know the guy who maintians it (a biodiesel powered vw passat) http://www.motorcitycarshare.o rg/ | ||
Danindc Member Username: Danindc Post Number: 2475 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Typically, not very far. There are probably half a dozen shared cars within a six block radius of my house. I've never heard of any Zipcars or Flexcars being stolen or vandalized. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 792 Registered: 04-2006 |
This actually makes a lot of sense for Detroit (and even more sense for Ann Arbor) considering how much more car oriented it still is compared to other major cities where this has been successful. Usually, they leave the cars parked in a parking structure/lot of a high density area, and you pick the car up and drive where ever you need to go (in downtown's case this might be the mall, grocery store, etc.) and then drop it off when you're done. The traffic problem that is about to arise downtown when all of those residential projects come to fruition is gonna make a service like this very profitable. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5326 Registered: 11-2003 |
In Portland, Oregon, Flexcar has designated parking spots reserved on the streets. The cars seem to remain safe. They are located in high density areas of the city where memebers can walk to the cars. Other spaces are on main streetcar, bus or light rail lines. Honda donated much of this motorpool so Flexcar runs around town advertising these vehicles. A chief requirement would be high density living where members can get into a car quickly near their home or work. jjaba. | ||
Tomoh Member Username: Tomoh Post Number: 301 Registered: 11-2004 |
By chance I just discovered that Zipcar operates in Ann Arbor. Check out the map: http://www.zipcar.com/find-car s/ | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9254 Registered: 12-2003 |
Gravity, Yeah, I just saw that VW parked in North Corktown...not far from Nancy Whiskey's. Glad someone is already on this, I think it could work here in Detroit...especially in the central part of the city. |
