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I thought that the car-share model is pretty well established in Europe? I think it has basically died in the US though: - Zipcar got bought out by Avis (big t
by cbhl 6y ago
I thought that the car-share model is pretty well established in Europe? I think it has basically died in the US though:
- Zipcar got bought out by Avis (big traditional car rental company), and many properties terminated their contracts with Zipcar
- BMW's car share program left both the SF and Seattle markets
- In SF, the problems preventing carshare were mostly regulatory -- they couldn't get permission to use on-street parking (made both public transit and car-ownership factions unhappy)
- Lyft started a pilot of traditional full-day car rentals(!)
- Digory 6y agoThe market for carshare ends up being an awkward market in the US. Ride share solves urban car problems far better than the old taxi services — mostly problems around parking. Carshare tries to solve the parking problem, but for long or complex urban trips, or trips involving city to suburbs and back. But for longer trips in areas where parking isn’t a problem, carshare doesn’t add much compared to established rental car networks (or owning).
- ghaff 6y agoUber ended up really squeezing car share. Traditional rental mostly continued to be the better choice for weekend rentals or maybe even long day rentals, unless car share had a pickup location advantage. But Uber took a slice out of short-term private transportation for trips that weren't too long or too complex. I know a couple who live car-less in SF and they still use Zipcar and whatever the competitor is. But it's a pretty narrow use case.