My Turn
If you don't need a car all the time, why not share?
Would you like to have a fleet of company cars at your command
for a fraction of the normal cost? Innovative car-sharing systems
let you and your employees drive sedans, minivans and trucks
without leasing or purchasing a single vehicle.
A successful concept in Europe for 20 years, car-sharing is
beginning to catch on with U.S. business owners. If you don't
need a company car 24 hours a day, it can save you time and money.
Flexcar, for
instance, covers overhead costs such as gas, insurance, parking and
maintenance.
Here's how Flexcar works: You decide how many hours you need
a car, and Flexcar works out a monthly or weekly plan for you, with
a monthly invoice. (You can also call to reserve cars for as little
as an hour on short notice.) You get a gas credit card in your
company name, and a skeleton key that opens the door of every car
in the fleet. You then punch in a code in a specific car's
lockbox to retrieve the ignition key.
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The company's Hondas, Toyotas and Fords are parked at
downtown multibusiness buildings and at transit stations, or can be
delivered directly to your office. Flexcar currently serves Long
Beach, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and Washington, DC.
More cities will be added in the next few months.
Other car-sharing programs include Zipcar, which serves
Boston, Washington and New York City; E-Motion,
which plans to offer electric cars in Atlanta late this year; and
several others. One of the most successful is San Francisco's
City CarShare, with more than 1,000 members. Others are listed at
www.carsharing.net.
Editor and consultant Jill Amadio has been reporting on the
automotive industry for 24 years.