I apologize for not posting on Thursday and Friday of last week, but my computer wouldn’t keep a steady connection any longer than 5 minutes at a time, so posting (and writing) was impossible. Thankfully (hopefully), the problem has been resolved.

While I was away, I spent some time with my daughter who goes to college, and found myself thinking about how many colleges there are in my area.  I counted them up; there is one two-year college, one four-year college and two universities all within just a couple of miles from my house, and you know what?  We don’t have a car share program here.  Not that car share businesses are solely reserved for college students, in fact, I know a few people who live in large metropolitan areas from all walks of life who have used them and most with great results but heck, my area is comprised of nearly 400,000 people more than enough (in my opinion) to get the attention of U Car Share or Zip Car. 

Recently, a friend who’s daughter attends college a few hundred miles away, got a call from her daughter who explained that her car needed some expensive repairs and since it was an older model, the expense of the repair far outweighed the value of the car. The only viable solution was to pop for another used car so her daughter could get from college to her work-study job across town, not too mention have the transportation needed to come home over Easter.  Again, there wasn’t the convenience of a car share program in her area.  If there were, it would have made things so much easier on everyone involved; daughter could have a car to get to and from college to work-study, mom wouldn’t have had to come up with a few thousand dollars for another used car.

Research shows that car sharing is certainly great for the environment, too. Did you know that every shared car on the road can replace up to 15 personally owned vehicles?  This means that fewer cars would need to be manufactured, fewer cars would be on the road and the community’s carbon footprint could be reduced. Car sharing is just another way to enable students, businesses and others, to meet their transportation needs.

Generally, anyone who is over 18 and has a few years of driving experience under their belt can qualify to drive a car under a car share program – which certainly makes it a great option for college students, but many others, as well – and if there are a few locations around town, cars can be picked up and dropped off in various areas which are convenient and accessible to the population. Besides, those who use the service don’t have to deal with insurance, fuel and maintenance costs, either.

Total win/win, right?  Or not?

Since I don’t have any experience with car sharing programs, I’m hoping Cars for Girls readers who have used a car share service wouldn’t mind leaving me a comment and sharing what they like and dislike about the service.  Do you think it’s worth the price?  Is it convenient?  Have you been dissatisfied with the experience?  Satisfied?  Would you rather take public transportation or call a cab than join a car share service?  Is a car share service something you would – or wouldn’t – recommend?

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