Do you have a car on your block that always seems to be parked in the same spot? It collects dust on dry weeks, and disguises itself under a mountain of snow in the winter. Well if you said yes, this vehicle is the victim of what I call “owners neglect." If this black diamond urban ski mountain is your car, its ok, there is now a solution to this situation that is growing rapidly in urban/semi-urban areas.
Many of us own a car for the convenience of using it a couple times a week: to go to the grocery, to go to a concert across town, to get to a dentist appointment early in the morning, or to get out of town for a weekend. Wouldn’t it be easy if you could walk a block and pick up a shared car whenever you need it, and never worry about the upkeep?. This concept is called a car-sharing or car co-op program. You pay a monthly fee, based on your expected use, to employ the service. With the service, the company maintains and services the vehicles, fills ‘em up, takes care of insurance, clean them out, and reserves a parking spot for you when you’re done. This saves you lots of time, money, stress, and reduces the number of bills you have to pay. Here is why it’s important, the car is useful to you on the days you need it, and it is useful to others in the alternate time slots. In some cites these car-sharing programs are even employing fleets of hybrids only. And it is still affordable!