View online at http://www.citycarshare.org/newsletters/2010-12/

City CarShare Newsletter
2010: A Year of Change and Giving Back
Give the Gift of Car Sharing
Give as You Get: One Stop GoodShop
2011: Celebrating 10 years of Driving the Bay Area Forward
Shopping Party at Sports Basement Reminder - Thursday Dec 9
Less Stress, More You: Updated Member Account Section
A Million Cheers For Volunteers
Christmas Tree Hauling Tips
Pod Watch
SHN Spotlight: SHREK THE MUSICAL!
More ways to keep in touch:

2010: A Year of Change and Giving Back


City CarShare believes in being smart. Providing the greenest fleet in the industry, combined with the lowest car sharing rates in the area ... that's smart. Remembering why we provide our service leads to smart thinking, smart programs, and smart members. As locals, we champion local causes, businesses, and organizations. With nearly ten years of experience under our seatbelts, City CarShare exits 2010 with a trunk-full of accomplishments and new partnerships:
  • Debut of two Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs)
  • Laying the groundwork to place more PHEVs, electric vehicles, and charging stations in 2011
  • An enhanced reservation system
  • A personal vehicle sharing partnership with Spride
  • and thousands of happy members who know that City CarShare is easy to use and makes a difference
We are proud of our positive impact in 2010, which is made possible through our members, programs, partners, and unique nonprofit business model. As a not-for-profit, every dollar we generate goes right back into the community. We do this through our service and programs; advocacy for green transportation and better land-use; and by supporting remarkable local groups and initiatives.

To view a list of our ongoing programs click here. And check out the numerous community organizations that we partnered with and supported throughout 2010 by clicking here.

Happy holidays to all of you!

Give the Gift of Car Sharing


Looking for a great gift for the special people in your life? Want to give something a little more meaningful than a gift card, bottle of wine or fruitcake? Then give the gift of car sharing, a City CarShare Share-a-Little membership.

For $50, you can sign up a friend to receive a one-year Share-a-Little membership that includes driving credit! This covers their $45 annual fee, $30 application fee and we'll toss in $25 in driving credits. ($100 value!)

Just email marketing@citycarshare.org to purchase a gift certificate.

Give as You Get: One Stop GoodShop

You could brave the mall this winter and do a lot of waiting ... for a parking spot, for a Cinnabon, for the checkout line, for the Aspirin to kick in. Or, you could slip on your Snuggie, hop online, and prepare to do a lot of good—instantly.

With the holiday season in full swing, GoodShop has made it easy to spread the cheer of giving beyond the lucky friends and family on your gift list. GoodShop is an online shopping mall of world-class merchants dedicated to funding worthy causes across the country. Each purchase you make via the GoodShop mall results in a donation to City CarShare at no cost to you when you designate us on their site.

City CarShare is proud and excited to be part of the GoodShop family, and we invite you to make the GoodShop storefront your first stop for everything from new cookware to aged denim. Just click here, enter City CarShare into the option field, and shop away!

And Goodshop gives you even more to love than stress-free shopping. The hard-working GoodShop elves scour the Internet daily for all the best deals, coupon codes and shipping discounts available from their world-class merchants and compile them in one place for you to share and compare. And it's easy to participate.

If you're a fan of the pay-it-forward values that fuel GoodShop, be sure to check out their sister service, GoodSearch, for your everyday browsing. GoodSearch is a search engine that donates 50 percent of its search revenue to charities and non-profit organizations that are designated by its users. Donations come from the advertisers on GoodSearch, so it costs nothing more for you to participate than three minutes of simple set-up.

To activate GoodSearch on your computer, laptop or smartphone, just click here and verify that you want to support City CarShare by entering our name. With GoodSearch, you get the power of Yahoo! delivering your search results, so it comes fast, focused, and filled with good karma.

2011: Celebrating 10 years of Driving the Bay Area Forward

It started in 1999 with three socially and environmentally conscience San Franciscans who wanted to bring the concept of car sharing to the Bay Area. They launched City CarShare in 2001 to alleviate the negative impact of over-reliance on individual car ownership in our urban communities. Ten years later, City CarShare continues to reduce car usage, car ownership, congestion, and poor land use while improving the environment and quality of life in the Bay Area. And we do it a price that is the lowest around.

To celebrate 'driving the Bay Area forward', we will have a fun gala in Fall 2011 to celebrate our success, our goals, and our next steps. Look out for fun member activities throughout the 2011 year. Stay tuned to our newsletters, log-in page and, if you don't already, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for 2011 Anniversary updates.

Shopping Party at Sports Basement Reminder

Whether you're searching for a few more stocking stuffers or just need a little pick-me-up to keep your spirits merry before vacation rolls around, join us for City CarShare's annual Shopping Party at Sports Basement.

From 6-8pm on Thursday, December 9, the Bryant Street branch of Sports Basement will welcome City CarShare members with delicious snacks, warm smiles, and an extra cool 15% off their already low prices. And SB will donate 5% of your purchases during this exclusive event to support our community programs and to outfit one of our vehicles with a shiny new ski/snowboard rack. Plus, every member who swings by during the party will be entered into a raffle to win $50 in driving credits.

And since parties are so much more fun with friends, don't forget to bring some along! Bring a buddy to the party and you'll be entered into a raffle for a Sports Basement gift certificate. Even better, if that buddy is ready to become a City CarShare member, you will both get to share $50 in driving credits ($25 in credits each) for signing up during the event. We'll have a City CarShare staffer available to explain all the plans and membership details, so you can feel free to grab a drink, relax, and map out your shopping route.
Sports Basement
1590 Bryant Street (at 15th)
San Francisco
Phone: 415.575.3000
We look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. Share the word! Use this handy evite to tell your friends about the shopping party on December 9.

Less Stress, More You: Updated Member Account Section

We are excited to debut new and improved online account management features in our reservations system! With these new features, you can do more to manage, edit and view the finer details of your account.

These improvements allow you to get speedy access to your ongoing usage, such as hours and miles. If you have multiple drivers on your account, you can see their trips too. Now you can track costs sooner (usually within 24 hours) to help you monitor your sharing budget more effectively.

Don't forget that you can also set up Favorite Locations, under the Settings tab of this Account section. Using Favorite Locations, you can easily add, name and change your most frequently used Pods to your member profile. After logging in, just type in the name of your pre-set Favorite Location and the system will instantly search for vehicles in and around that Pod.

To view the new features, log in and select Account from the top navigation link.

Our goal with these improvements is to make your car sharing experience as user-friendly as possible. We appreciate all the comments, critiques, and suggestions that City CarShare members send our way, and our ears are always open to more. If you'd like to share your thoughts, email us at memberservices@citycarshare.org.

A Million Cheers For Volunteers

Nothing says "bonding experience" like erecting the CityCarshare canopy together in the swirling winds of Bernal Heights. Through rain and fog and scorching sun, our diverse team of volunteers amazes us year after year with their generosity, boundless energy, sense of humor, and touching life stories. If it ever snowed in the Bay Area, we bet they'd still make the trek to help us stuff envelopes at the office and keep our booth tidy and welcoming. To each of our beloved volunteers from Oakland to San Francisco, Berkeley to Alameda, we thank you deeply from the bottom of our hearts. We couldn't do it without you. More importantly, we wouldn't want to.

Every day, your City CarShare staff works hard behind the scenes to provide an effortless car sharing experience, but our engine runs more smoothly thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who truly embody our mission to "share the love."

Thanks to the following awesome volunteers for giving back this year!
Adelaide P Alex R Alison F Angela P Ann A
Ann W Aubrey C Barbara H Bette I Carol M
Casey K Catherine C Charles H Chas N Chris T
Christine C Christine G Christopher V Colleen C Colleen K
Connie C Constantine L Crista T Cynthia N Daniel-Charles O
Dario B David K Dawn R Deborah C Deborah K
Derek Dibesh S Dimitra T Dorothy E Douglas B
Ed D Elan S Emma B Eun Young L Gabriella C
Gloria W Henry S Israel B J B James B
Janet S Jason M Jennifer R Jessie S Joan K
John A Juliette T Kathryn H Kendelyn B Kevin L
Kimberly C Kirsten F Kyle B Lauri P Laurie B
Lelia K Loren H Lynn S Maija D Malay K
Marci Y Margaret L Marianne M Marie-Nadine L Mary B
Mary C Mary Elizabeth L Mary S Megan M Melissa A
Melissa M Michael L Michael P Nancy M Nichol S
Nikhil C Pamela S Phoebe L Rachael G Rachel S
Ramon P Rebecca J Robin R Robin T Robyn M
Ruby A Samira J Sarah A Scott V Seth N
Shelley H Siripattara T Stan M Steve C Susan B
Sylvia B Sylvia W Tamara M Theresa K Therese F
Todd L Varun P Vicki O Vincent B Virginia F
Vladyslav S Wendy Y William M William T

If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know at volunteers@citycarshare.org.

Christmas Tree Hauling Tips

With Christmas around the corner, getting a fresh tree from lot to living room is a sticky situation — literally. Sticky sap, scratches from sharp branches and pine needle confetti could end up in the carpet and upholstery of our cars, which means you might end up incurring a cleaning charge if another member calls the vehicle in for a scrub-down. If you're planning to use City CarShare to pick up or drop off a Christmas tree this year, we've gathered some tips to help make the adventure more fun than frustrating:
  • Try to use a Tacoma truck—no need to worry about any cloth interiors. If the Tacoma closest to you is taken at your desired time, use the handy "search by car-type" feature on our reservation page to find the next-nearest pod with a truck.
  • No truck? No worries. For any City CarShare vehicle, we recommend that you carry the tree home on top of the car. Simply place a large blanket on top of the roof and fasten the tree to the top of the blanket with ropes. Make sure that your knots are secure and that the tree does not hinder your visibility from any angle.
  • If it's raining cats and dogs, or if you choose a smaller tree, placing your friendly tree in the trunk is also an option. For easy clean-up, flip down the backseat of your vehicle and lay a tarp or sheet over the entire area. Wrap your tree tightly with another sheet and secure with ropes before easing it into the trunk. When you arrive home, grab the edges of the tarp you've laid over the trunk and slide the entire thing out. Take your tree inside, shake out any wayward needles on the tarp, and you're done!

Pod Watch



Re-Opened Pods

  • San Francisco: Gough & Grove (cars from the Performing Arts Garage were moved to this location)
City CarShare strives to maintain the optimal balance between increasing vehicle density to serve our current membership and expanding into neighborhoods that show good potential for sustaining new pods. If you would like to offer parking or make suggestions for new pods or vehicle types, please contact us at memberservices@citycarshare.org.

SHN Spotlight: SHREK THE MUSICAL!

Of all the ogres in the world, City CarShare feels a special kinship with Shrek. After all, we both look fabulous in green and share an extra-large soft spot in our hearts for home. And during this holiday season, we'll both be heading to work at the world-renowned Orpheum Theatre — SHREK THE MUSICAL is officially in the house!

Come check out the San Francisco run of SHREK THE MUSICAL (until Jan 2) and enjoy this fresh-off Broadway fairy tale that USA Today has declared: "A big fat hit!" Part romance, part fable and all irreverent fun, SHREK THE MUSICAL features huge laughs, breathtaking scenery, incredible costumes and an infectious score with 18 brand-new songs. Find all the details at http://shnsf.com/shows/shrek.

For over 30 years, SHN (Shorenstein Hays Nederlander) has been the Bay Area's lifeline to the ultimate Broadway experience. Read more about their current season and their award-winning history at www.shnsf.com.

SHN generously donated free tickets to SHREK for CCS members. Congratulations to winners for our SHREK THE MUSICAL ticket giveaway:

  • Christopher P
  • Polly H
  • Ramon P
  • Scott W
  • Teresa R
Thanks for Sharing!
City CarShare Member Directory:
Reservations:
www.citycarshare.org
877-363-0710

Questions (membership issues):
memberservices@citycarshare.org
415-995-8588 and press 0

Accounts (update credit card info):
memberservices@citycarshare.org
415-995-8588 x0

Emergency (report urgent car issues):
415-786-7468
 Volunteer:
Sign-up for regular emails about volunteering:
volunteers@citycarshare.org

Donate:
Support your favorite nonprofit carsharing organization: www.citycarshare.org/supportus.do

Our Office:
1182 Market Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94102-4919
Tel: 415-995-8588 Fax: 415-995-8589