City CarShare Newsletter
September 2007

PARK(ing) Day: Homegrown Playgrounds take over Parking Spots

As a City CarShare member, you get around while making a statement. Together we take hundreds of cars off the streets, reduce congestion, improve the environment and even help create livable space in our cities. As urban dwellers, we all need a place to throw down a blanket and soak up the sun.

And now you can do just that while being creative. On Friday, September 21 join REBAR, Public Architecture and The Trust for Public Land in creating your very own green space by taking over a 10' x 20' parking spot. Bring astro turf, some potted plants and a few lounge chairs — or come up with your own design for the space.

Sign up at www.parkingday.org. If you need to use a car for setting up, let us know and we'll give you driving credits. And if you create a space with a City CarShare theme, we'll provide materials and pay for your meter. Just contact marketing@citycarshare.org before starting on your PARK(ing) space.

New Pods!

As our membership grows, so do the number of our locations and cars. Here are the latest pod locations:
  • Berkeley: Dwight/College (Prius hybrid + a new Honda Fit)
  • San Francisco: Panhandle: Broderick & Fell (2 brand new Scion xDs)
  • San Francisco: Alamo Square: Fulton & Fillmore (2 brand new Scion xDs)

Not at a Computer and Need Directions?

In our never-ending quest to make City CarShare convenient, we've found a new service to help you get around. And it's free! Dial Directions is a new, first-of-its-kind voice-activated service that provides driving directions to all cell phone users. City CarShare is the first car sharing organization to be included in Dial Directions. Our partnership with Dial Directions gives you an easy way to find the nearest City CarShare pod as well as other nifty navigation assistance to help you find your way around town.

There's no prior registration required and only your normal cell phone usage fees apply. Follow the instructions below to get directions instantly sent to you via text messaging.

To find the nearest City CarShare pod or BART station from anywhere in the Bay Area:
  • Dial "DIR-ECT-IONS" (347-328-4667) from any cell phone
  • Select Business option
  • Say City CarShare (or BART) when asked for the listing
  • Say where you are. You can give an address like '123 Webster' or an intersection like 'Webster and Geary'.
That's it! Dial Directions will find the closest City CarShare location to you and instantly send directions to you via SMS/text messaging.

And if you're lost or need help getting back to a City CarShare location, just use the Address option and say your start and end address or intersection.

Dial Directions covers the greater Bay Area from Sonoma to Santa Cruz and all of the East Bay.

Let us know if this service is useful to you. Email info@dialdirections.com and please CC: marketing@citycarshare.org.

Driving Tip: Reservations on the Go from your Cell

Now you can extend a trip or make a reservation from your cell phone by using our new cell phone web access reservation service! If you can access the Internet from your cell phone, go to citycarshare.org/m Log in and you're good to go.

For example, it is just one-click to extend a reservation: if the extension request is successful, the page will reload showing your new end time. If the extension request fails and you can't get the car back on time, please call the emergency line so we can notify the next member you're running late.

While you're surfing, check out the handy short cuts like clicking a button to dial our office or emergency line. Wireless web plans are much more affordable these days so ask your carrier about costs to find out if surfing the web from your phone works for you. And please don't forget to pull over before using this service.

We like being able to contact members on cell phones for urgent trip-related needs. You can get a phone from us for $25, get phone credits and only have to pay $20 every 3 months to keep it going. So this offer lets you pay less than $7 a month for a cell phone. The phone has a flashlight and is pre-configured to receive City CarShare reservation confirmation messages. To add Internet service the cost is $1 on days you use it or $5 per month. Contact memberservices@citycarshare.org for details.

Members in the Media

Check out member Cynthia Colindra's star appearance on BARTtv! She shares the word about being a City CarShare member who uses BART to get to her pod. Member Bret Lee arrived at the pod during filming and was also interviewed. Thanks to Cynthia and Bret for being such great City CarShare spokespeople.

To see Cynthia and Bret's interview, go to the BARTtv News Page, click on the search tab and enter "City CarShare".

If you're interested in being a spokesperson for the media, let us know at marketing@citycarshare.org.

September Myth Buster: Mix-n-Match

Myth: City CarShare has only a few types of cars.

Fact: City CarShare has a large variety of car types to fit your driving needs. And all of our cars are at the top of their class in gas mileage and emission reduction.

We know your driving needs vary from moving furniture and grocery shopping trips to meeting with clients and picking loved ones up at the airport. So when we replace our cars (each one gets replaced after three years of service) we make sure we keep a healthy mix in the fleet. Check out our new Tacoma Trucks, huge selection of Prius', new Scion xBs, Scion xDs and our new snazzy red Honda Fits.

We want to know what car you want for your occasional driving needs, so let us know what you think. And remember, less than 10% of our fleet are premium priced vehicles. That means you can get the car you want at the rate you want.

Share a Shared CCS Car

We love ridesharing and car sharing and hope you do too. Why not combine the two to expand your car sharing practices? You can now quickly arrange to share rides among friends, neighbors, and colleagues through GoLoco, an innovative new service using social networking to increase ride sharing. You can find people with similar profiles or mutual friends and arrange rides to events, activities or even shopping. For more information, click here.

On September 11 there will be a Transportation and Land Use Coalition workshop with Robin Chase, founder of GoLoco. Click here for more information.

Art and Soul



Our event volunteers not only grow support of car sharing in the Bay Area, they also make friends with each other. We had a blast with all of our hardworking volunteers at the Art and Soul festival in Oakland over Labor Day weekend. Sunshine smiles beam from Martin and Kara pictured here. Thanks everyone for helping us Share the Love.
City CarShare Member Directory:
Reservations:
www.citycarshare.org
877-363-0710 or 415-227-0712

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

Accounts (update credit card info):
accounts@citycarshare.org
415-995-8588 x303

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

Donate:
Support your favorite non-profit car-sharing organization: www.citycarshare.org/supportus.do

Our Office:
131 Steuart Street, Suite 205
San Francisco, CA, 94105
Tel: 415-995-8588 Fax: 415-995-8589