Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > May > 15 > Entry
Sick of Traffic Option #2: Car-sharing.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maybe I’m relying too much on lessons from kindergarten here, but would it be so bad to share a car in this city?
Now that I’m car-free — and believe me, I did not intend to be — I’m tickled to be living where Zipcar is available. The car-sharing/short-term-rental company recently merged with Flexcar, which had been the source of shared vehicles here since June, 2006.
Zipcar vehicles are strategically parked around the city. (Keep your eyes open at MARTA stations.) Your membership and an online reservation will get you into one. It’s a rental, but for an hour, or a day, without all the paperwork and signing away of your first-born child. Gas and insurance are included, which is a nice perk.
I haven’t used the service, but I like the idea of it, in combination with my feet, a bike and an employer-subsidized MARTA card.
Kelley Raye, a member services coordinator at Zipcar in Atlanta, told me plenty of others seem to like it, too, especially as gas prices climb higher. (The average price for a gallon of unleaded in Atlanta today: $3.75.) Members will use the cars for lunch or work trips, she said, relying on company accounts instead of their own cars and gas.
But a recent uptick in membership and interest in certain types of vehicles — more Volvos, fewer Honda Accords — doesn’t mean Atlanta’s all about the car-sharing idea: “Atlanta’s a weird market,” Raye said. “Everybody wants their car.”
Indeed, a July 2007 AJC story said Flexcar was taking a gamble to branch out in “sprawling Atlanta,” where 80 percent of commuters drive to work alone.
Have you used ZipCar? Would you use it? Are there any other car-sharing or car-pooling services?
Or do you think my attempt to play nice and live without a car in Atlanta just newcomer naivety?
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Comments
By Jeff
May 15, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this
I’ve never really lived/worked where such a thing would be useful, except maybe the summer that I lived/worked at Emory. But even that summer I was only free on the weekends, and typically went back to Cartersville for that!
If I lived/worked in an area (such as ITP or even the just-barely-OTP suburbs, such as Norcross/Alpharetta areas) where everything was so close that I didn’t really NEED a car, I might be inclined to use such a service as Zipcar.
Never really have liked the carpooling idea though, though I once tried it for a while when several of the teachers I worked with all worked at the same school and lived 60 miles away but within a couple of miles of each other. (We all lived in NW Albany, worked in Randolph County - near Eufaula, AL.)
I say if you can live without a car, by all means, have at it! If it were an option for me, I certainly would!
By ef Atlanta
May 15, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
I commute by van to Emory. As an “alternate commuter”, and by that they mean not driving along in my own car, I get access to a Zipcar in Atlanta. It’s a great concept. I use it almost every week to got to lunch off campus.. I sometimes use it to run errands in the city so that I don’t have to drive back in and do them on the weekend. The only problem is that as Zipcar has become more popular it’s harder to reserve a car at the time I want it.
By Deanna
May 15, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
I like the idea of Zipcar, but I wish there weren’t a monthly fee for membership. That fee makes it more expensive than it’s worth for me considering the few times I’d want to use it.
By jgumbrecht_0508aa
May 15, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this
Hey Deanna!
Zipcar does have a no-monthly-fee option, but it’ll cost you a $50 annual fee and $25 application fee. You can read more about it here: http://www.zipcar.com/atlanta/check-rates
I think that’s the plan I’m going to try. I’m not convinced yet that I’d spend $50 a month otherwise. But then, a one-day rental on the low-use plan is $66. Hmmm….
By michele
May 15, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
Sounds great if you live downtown/midtown & are single.
By Cristopher Boyer
May 25, 2008 4:20 PM | Link to this
San Francisco has something like this as well, I noticed it getting used fairly heavily last time I was there.
But their prices seem a bit high! I kind of feel like I’ve paid less per day to rent from Enterprise or whatever.
By nationwide zipster
May 27, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this
gas and insurance are included; that’s why their day rates are a little higher than traditional car rental, where you don’t even have the option of renting a car for just an hour, if that’s all you really need.
By susan
September 18, 2008 8:30 PM | Link to this
I have a membership and have used it in Atlanta and Seattle. I love being able to pick a nearby car depending upon what I need…is it a small car, or a Honda element for toting things. Not having to worry about the admin of a rental car company is fantastic! the price ends up being a lot less than owning a car or a daily rental when you consider your time.
By honey
September 22, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
I have been a Flexcar/Zipcar member since the week they came to ATL. I’d add a few more cons: if they can’t do it by satellite, or online, they ain’t doin it. What I mean is this: if the car you reserved doesn’t work for some reason, and another isn’t available, the only thing they offer is that you catch a cab and they will reimburse you. What? Have they ever tried to “catch a cab” in ATL? From where? Sure, I guess I could get back on the bus, and then the train, and go to Five Points, or maybe find a hotel where a taxi may be parked…by then I missed the job interview (happened to me!). With flexcar, if they messed up they would fix it: drive a car to you, or come and unlock the thing themselves. Zipcar does none of that. Three times I have reserved a car online of by phone, only to have it not there when I get there. When I called, they said it was reserved, or broken. Why was it still available to be reserved, then? I’ve never received a single response to any questions I’ve sent them online. I get a stock email explaining that I will get response soon, then no one responds. The thing that Zipcar is useful for, if you plan well, is as a good rental car when you visit a city that also has Zipcar.