TRANSPORTATION
The Gist: Rentvergnügen
$2.50 Per Hour, Plus 45 Cents Per Mile
There's an air of mystery about picking up a CarShare Volkswagen. First, I look for a nondescript garage door on a side street. My key chain fob electronically opens it. Once inside, I see a VW Golf. It responds to my key chain. It opens. The glove compartment contains a swipe card for the parking garage and a gas card for unlimited fuel. "Bond," I think, "do be careful."
I'm happy to report that the San Francisco City CarShare (a federally funded nonprofit in operation since March 2001) is now running smoothly. For those without wheels of their own, it's the best bet to haul gear from Fry's or take the baby-sitter home. Here's how it works: Members fill out an online reservation form at www.citycarshare.com for time periods as short as 15 minutes. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and you can choose a Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, or Beetle from a network of 35 granola rollers in all. Then you pick up a car in one of nine neighborhood garages located throughout the the city.
My first monthly bill totaled $71 - steeper than my cell phone statement but just as neatly itemized. The cars have an embedded onboard computer that captures your member number, mileage, and share time. You are charged $2.50 per hour plus 45 cents per mile, along with a $10 monthly membership fee. The billing method turns transportation into a metered commodity, like bandwidth or sewage disposal. By planning trips carefully, I could shift usage up or down. The precious parking space was also a big benefit. If I owned a car, I probably couldn't afford to lease garage space a block from my house.
Overall, the program is a triumph of garage tech. Similar car-sharing programs are starting in Portland, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and Boulder, Colorado, but their users log hours and mileage with paper and pencil. In San Francisco, you hold a small plastic fob next to the windshield's proximity reader to pass on your unique authentication code. The ignition key dangles on a wire on the steering column, but the engine won't turn over unless you've used the fob. An onboard computer, updated with a recent reservation schedule, verifies your claim to the vehicle. And the car keeps a current roster by communicating via 900-MHz wireless to the garage's wall panel, which dials into CarShare's server.
Do I have gripes? Out of the dozen times I've used the service, it left me high and dry once. But that headache translated into a $30 credit on my bill (and a $40 surcharge for the poor sod who didn't bring the car back in time). Also, the system discourages spontaneity - you can't stay out late when someone needs the car after you. And it's annoying when the preset radio stations change. But then I think of the bumper sticker in back: CARSHARE. SHARE. NICE.
City CarShare: +1 (415) 995 8588, www.citycarshare.com.
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