
Car2Go Reduces Car Ownership, Transportation Research Center Finds - jseliger
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/07/car2go-car-ownership-vmt-ghg/491825/
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matt4077
Car ownership seems to be on the decline anyway. I'm end-20ies and socialize
in a group where everyone could afford a car, yet almost none of them do.

Granted it's Berlin which has a somewhat peculiar culture but even in the US
it seems to be catching on, at least in the large cities.

It seems like the car has lost its cultural appeal as a symbol of freedom &
wealth. Now it's just one of many options for transportation.

I cannot wait to see how this could transform cities. Car sharing together
with self-driving cars means we need far fewer and they can disappear into a
depot when unused. A typical road has four lanes (two for parking, two for
driving). You could cut that in half by eliminating parked cars, possibly also
eliminate one of the remaining lanes if automation allows for more efficient
usage. Suddenly the space available for pedestrians / green / street life has
more than doubled, noise and pollutants almost eliminated by electric cars...
For dense cities, it could dramatically improve the quality of life.

~~~
woodpanel
_For dense cities, it could dramatically improve the quality of life._

Which is why I'd like to see cities or housing developers taking a more open
minded approach towards integrating something like car2go into their projects.

But for municipalities car2go's "commercial-ness" is some sort of stigma
(which is wierd because it's not really being a high profit raking venture).

To "dramatically improve quality of life" the many low hanging fruits would
have to be tackled by local government. (smaller) cities should consider
franchising it somehow (ie paying Daimler for being part of the car2go
network).

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Implicated
I absolutely LOVE the car2go service. Cheaper than Uber, more flexible and the
cars are seemingly everywhere. I prefer to bike/walk most places, but it's
sure nice to have the option when needed, without the burden of ownership...
and paying for/worrying about parking.

~~~
stenius
In my experience it's not cheaper.

I remember I got a credit for $30 the last time I used it and spent about $20
to get to downtown Austin from about 3 miles away and had to keep circling
around to find a spot to park it in which I was paying for.

I haven't used it since then. It's far easier to just take the bus and walk
from the bus station.

~~~
xur17
I've use it a few times to drive from downtown to my apartment on the west
side of town, and payed <$5 for 3 miles. I used it once to try to get from my
apartment to downtown, but I found it really difficult to find a parking spot
downtown during rush hour.

It was slightly cheaper than Uber when they were still in Austin, but not by
much.

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swang
SF regulations (something about requiring the rental be roundtrip vs one-way I
think) prevent Car2Go from existing in SF. This is really annoying as it's
just sitting there while I have to rush to make sure I do my task in the
allotted time I've set then race back to the car's parking spot before time is
up.

Zipcar has been quietly asking about this in surveys they give out. My guess
is they're probably going to fight car2go if they try to get the regulation
overturned and if not, just join them in the same game.

~~~
licyeus
Zipcar has been rolling out "one-way" trips in several cities: LA,
Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, Seattle... You still have to return the vehicle
to a Zipcar parking spot, but it can be at a different location from where you
started your trip.

Given that Car2Go and ReachNow (BMW's car-sharing beta in Seattle) seem to be
thriving, it seems wise for Zipcar to explore true one-way trips (i.e., park
anywhere).

~~~
robbiet480
I'd point out that ReachNow actually started life as DriveNow here in San
Francisco. They left town once they made the poor decision to move from having
"stations" to on street parking only. On street parking + limited parking
availability + all electric fleet = lots of dead cars in hard to reach
locations.

~~~
dmoy
It doesn't really seem to be a poor decision based on usage here in Seattle.
(There are other issues, but so far my main complaints with it have been
software issues, not running out of battery). Point to point and parking
anywhere you want is amazing. Cheaper than the bus for two people if you're
going only a few miles, and faster too.

In fact if I had to park in designated spots I'd basically never use it.

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kennywinker
> car2go’s services are also a way of exposing potential future car-buyers to
> Daimler’s automotive products.

That confirms my long-standing tin-foil hat theory about car2go: it's just an
advertising venture disguised as a car sharing service. It doesn't have to
make money, just cost less than they would spend on advertising and put
smartcars all over major cities.

We recently got a locally owned car sharing service, and I choose it first
whenever possible.

~~~
Tiktaalik
It can't be a very effective strategy. From the next line of the article:

> Given Smart cars’ somewhat dismal U.S. sales records, it seems unlikely that
> legions of former car2go members will one day clamor to put Fortwos of their
> own in their garages.

I use car2go all the time and I can attest that the Smart FourTwo is total
garbage. It's the worst car I've ever driven.

That being said, while I'd never buy a FourTwo, the car2go _service_ is great.
Driving a terrible car for a few minutes for some errand that requires a car
is no big deal.

~~~
marklyon
Agree. The cars are absolute shit and I'd never own one, but am happy to rent
them.

I'm convinced the placement of the key, though, is going to end up the cause
of someone's death. I've bumped it and turned off the engine while driving
more than once.

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woodpanel
If it wasn't for car2go I might have been a vehicle owner 3-4 years earlier.
Once they stopped operations at my city I was so accustomed to get to my
destinations by car though, that going back to public transit wasn't an option
(given that I could afford a car by then).

