Car Sharing / Rental (Car2Go, HourCar, etc.)

[mulad]

I'm pretty sure I'd commented on the fact that there was an oversupply of ForTwos in the U.S., though maybe someone else beat me to it. Does anyone know what a typical rental car's lifespan is like? I suspect it's pretty common for agencies to only keep them for about 3 years, then pawn them off onto the used car market and refresh the fleet, but I'm not sure about that. These ones probably haven't racked up the same number of miles as typical rental cars, since they're mostly used for urban trips, but they're probably seen more than their fair share of potholes compared to the average rental, and may have been a bit more damaged by salt and living outside on the street most of the time. The resale value is probably pretty bad for these cars, especially since there just hasn't been much of a market for them in the first place.

As for Uber, that 41% ratio of fares to costs puts it pretty close to public transit territory. The Green Line has about 36% farebox recovery, though that's relatively high. A lot of public transit agencies are in the high teens or mid-20s for farebox recovery. I think Metro Transit as a whole is a bit over 30%. Amtrak as a whole recovers about 80% of its operational costs through fares, though that's largely due to the big money they rake in on the Acela (arguably an overpriced service) -- the Empire Builder route covers about 45% of its costs through fares, from what I've been able to determine from their fiscal 2015 data.

I presume Uber is trying to be a lot like Amazon by running these big losses -- they're trying to build up their network possible while also undercutting the competition as much as they can.

[John21]

Car2Go and gone: Legislation aims to lure more car-sharing services to TC

Now a bill introduced at the Legislature would exempt car-sharing firms like Car2Go from paying motor vehicle rental taxes and fees in Minnesota. If the bill passes, its supporters hope Car2Go would come back to the Twin Cities or its competitors would enter the market.

[intercomnut]

HOURCAR plans to launch one-way, hub-based car sharing and make its fleet all-electric by 2020.

HOURCAR announces partnership with Xcel

[MNdible]

It would be nice to get Car2Go back. The hub-based system seems pretty limiting.

[Bakken2016]

Car2Go and gone: Legislation aims to lure more car-sharing services to TC

Now a bill introduced at the Legislature would exempt car-sharing firms like Car2Go from paying motor vehicle rental taxes and fees in Minnesota. If the bill passes, its supporters hope Car2Go would come back to the Twin Cities or its competitors would enter the market.

Anyone know any update on this bill?

[mamundsen]

HOURCAR plans to launch one-way, hub-based car sharing and make its fleet all-electric by 2020.

HOURCAR announces partnership with Xcel

I'm wondering where the hubs would be. Would there be a way to redistribute from a hub when too many cars all end up in the burbs or downtown?

[SurlyLHT]

Sounds like Nice Ride for cars.

[amiller92]

It would be nice to get Car2Go back. The hub-based system seems pretty limiting.

I've never understood how Car2Go can ever actually work unless it was somehow so affordable to provide the marginal car that they could be literally everywhere.

Meanwhile, it's weird to me that the city center is so far behind with services like this. By the time I left DC (which is getting to be a long time ago by now), walking a couple of blocks and picking up a Zip Car was a completely feasible way to deal with the periodic need for a car in a city in which you could mostly walk or take transit. I actually looked for HourCar or similar services near our condo building and thought about getting rid of my car. Might have actually gone through with it had there been a nearby station (and actually wished we had one at our building).

Really, while we're reducing and eliminating parking minimums, we should also be encouraging this type of service in and near the new downtown towers and anywhere else we think people can primarily live without a car of their own.

[mattaudio]

My guess is the fact that Uber and Lyft offer a chauffer for approximately the same cost as Car2Go charged to drive oneself has something to do with Car2Go's decline... Yet that doesn't explain why they can still coexist with Uber and Lyft in other cities.

[tmart]

My guess is the fact that Uber and Lyft offer a chauffer for approximately the same cost as Car2Go charged to drive oneself has something to do with Car2Go's decline... Yet that doesn't explain why they can still coexist with Uber and Lyft in other cities.

In Montreal, where Communauto is quite popular and Car2Go exists as well, I think they serve different niches. Uber has replaced taxis for a lot of people, but there are still personal car tasks you do where you wouldn't necessarily take a taxi. Things like a trip to IKEA or Costco (where you wouldn't necessarily be able to load everything into an Uber), or a multi-stop shopping trip where you would want to leave a car parked at each stop, or heading out of the city for a few hours for a hike.

[PhilmerPhil]

For a majority of my trips, I found car2go to be significantly cheaper than Uber/Lyft.

[COLSLAW5]

Saw that Lime was introducing a Car2Go like service in Seattle just made me remember when it was here and how useful it was. Maybe we can find a way to make it fair but not chase every transportation alternative away this time.

https://www.li.me/lime-pod-car-sharing

[Multimodal]

The thing about car sharing is that it seems a temporary need. Temporary meaning a decade or so.

As density increases, and transit & biking get better, the need for car trips goes down. Stuff/retail/friends/jobs/food are closer to you. Below a certain point, is it worth it to bother learning to get a driver’s license?

Or will other modes (or even Lyft/Uber) become more practical?

[Silophant]

Hourcar's Evie Carshare service has now soft-launched to Hourcar members. It's pretty much the same concept as Car2Go - unlock a vehicle with the app (or a Go-To card, but it's not clear to me how you'd find them without the app), drive it around for 18-30¢ / minute (depending on your subscription level), park it in any legal street parking space when you're done, but the vehicles are all Chevy Bolt EVs. For now, they're picking them up and charging them when the batteries get low, but 70 curbside charging stations are being built in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

[alexschief]

Off the bat, one big issue with Evie is that the home area for the cars is super small. I'm sure they have plans to expand it, but the base for use is certainly pretty limited at the moment. A student at St. Kates, for instance, really can't use this service if they live near the college. Same for anyone living north of the railroad near the U of M. For a year, I lived with some friends in that latter area who worked with College Possible at local schools, and a couple would use Car2Go for after-work trips that differed from their normal commute, but that wouldn't be possible with this restricted area.

It's also a bit of a problem to me that the area is so complicated. For instance, the northern border in St. Paul should just run along Maryland/Como. That's a lot easier to understand than having to remember that it drops down below the railroad, but only for a bit. The Southern border in Minneapolis should be 38th or something. Just stick with one clear boundary.

I wonder what folks think about the price. I looked at one of the trips I used to make when I lived in MSP, where I and some of my housemates would go play basketball every week in a league at the Midtown YMCA. Google Maps estimates an 11 minute drive time from where we used to live. Let's just say it's 15 minutes to be conservative. That's $9 there and back. In that specific case, it would've been split between three people, so it's a no-brainer, but if I were traveling along, the bus might make more sense.

Then again, that trade off makes sense. Some trips make sense for some modes. Others make sense for others. We should expect and want a car-share to be more expensive than the bus, but cheaper than private ownership. For someone who drives infrequently, it could be a good deal, and there are tiers. If you want an Evie car for more than 70 minutes per month, it makes sense to pay the monthly fee. That sounds about right to me.

[Bakken2016]

EMAIL FROM HOURCAR:

This is to inform you that we are adjusting rates and plans on both the HOURCAR and Evie Carshare services.

Effective March 31, 2023, HOURCAR will be adjusting rates and membership plans to address system demands and overall increased expenses, including operational costs, fuel costs, and vehicle replacement needs. These rate adjustments primarily impact the HOURCAR service. There will also be a small adjustment to the Evie Carshare day rate; Evie per-minute and hourly rates will remain the same.

In addition to the rate adjustments, effective March 31 we will be removing the 50 included miles per trip-day on the Try It plan and discontinuing the Adventure PLUS plan. Members on the Adventure PLUS plan should subscribe to a new membership plan before the Adventure PLUS plan expires on March 31, 2023. Any members who have not updated their plan by March 31 will be subscribed to the Try It plan. Any member on the Try It plan can immediately switch to a paid monthly membership plan that offers lower trip costs.

All Evie and HOURCAR trips started on or after midnight, March 31, 2023, will be charged the new rates. Any trip starting before this time will be charged according to the old plan rates.

New Rates: https://hourcar.org/new-pricing-effecti ... h-31-2023/

Super dissapointed with Adventure Plus going away, I used it all the time for trips to Chicago, Fargo, and Grand Forks due to the 300 daily mile cap, 200 miles a day on the Everyday Plus plan is not enough for Grand Forks or Chicago without paying more per mile.