Car sharing
From: Jeffrey O. Hobson (dcn00109wheel.ucdavis.edu)
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 94 13:56 CDT
On  Thu, 25 Aug 94 10:58 CDT, Ray Gasser wrote:
>Another possibility for decreasing automobile need
>is to have people "share" cars. One couple is "renting" occasional car
>use from another  in excahange for paying a portion of their
>monthly auto expenses (though you need to be careful about insurance
>liabilities, etc.)

Ray is definitely right; sharing a car can reduce auto use.  I don't own a
car, never have.  I don't want to, and am trying to make life decisions in
line with that aim.  Cohousing is one of those choices.  Working in Davis,
two miles from home, is another of those choices.  (I also don't have
children - I know that if I do in the future, the equation will change
drastically).  Not doing much non-grocery shopping is another.  

Not having a car at my beck and call means that when I want something, I
look for a non-car solution first.  Large-item shopping is partially solved
by delivery services (it is worth $10 to deliver lumber if it helps avoid
buying a car).  Out-of-town vacation trips are solved by having social
trips, with people who do have cars, and using long-distance public transit
for personal trips.  Specialty-item shopping is the most difficult to solve;
fortunately, my desires are few.

So far, when I *have* wanted a car just for my own purposes (about once a
month), I have borrowed/rented one from someone else in N Street.  Payback
has ranged between a batch of muffins the next morning to $5/day to a full
tank of gas to $0.25/mile (the government's reimbursement rate) to nothing.
So far, I haven't borrowed from anyone enough to develop a regular pattern,
but I recognize that this situation is not necessarily stable over the long
term.

Several of us at N Street have been thinking about a car-sharing cooperative
for awhile.  I don't know whether such a coop would just make the sharing
more above-board, or whether it would also increase my car use (the
take-back effect).  

The only info I have found so far is as follows:
- There is a Car Co-op in Eugene, OR, described in an issue of _RAIN_.  They
also distribute a Carsharing Startup Kit ,for $50.  For info, contact RAIN,
PO Box 30097, Eugene OR 97403.

So Ray, I'd appreciate a description of the experiences you folks have had.
Does anyone else out there have experience in car sharing, formal OR informal?

peace,
Jeffrey Hobson                                    N Street Cohousing 
dcn00109 [at] wheel.ucdavis.edu         Davis Energy Group

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