City CarShare Newsletter

City Carshare Is 7 Years Strong!


Strong, growing and thriving. What a nice place to be. City CarShare turns 7 this month (that's the early 20's in car share years) and growing older has never felt better. Our members, friends and supporters have helped to make socially responsible community-based car sharing a success. And while we currently tout our positive environmental impact, low prices and convenience, it is our community roots that truly make us one of the most successful car sharing organizations in North America.

Back in the late 1990's, three urban planners came together in San Francisco and started a study group called Ecotopia. Their goal — to make the Bay Area a better place to live — required creativity, a tangible plan and a love of the Bay Area. Among this talented crew were Kate White of Urban Ecology, Elizabeth Sullivan of the Neighborhood Parks Council and Gabriel Metcalf of SPUR. Learning from car sharing groups in Europe, they used their energy, credit cards and links to the community to establish City CarShare.

They created CCS as a non-profit because they believed car sharing was part of the public good and they didn't want decisions to be made based on paying back investors rather than serving our members and community. After 50 fundraising parties, many grant applications, media pitching and a slew of meetings to find partners in transportation, planning and government, they obtained a last minute grant from the Federal Highway Administration. City CarShare was launched on March 1, 2001 with Elizabeth and Kate at the helm.

So, seven years after our first green VW bug nestled into its new pod, we now we have 10 different types of cars — all fuel and emission efficient. We've signed on almost 17,000 members and have 250+ cars in over 140 locations. We serve all income levels, students, seniors and even government entities. And our social and environmental impact is second to none. An independent study by UC Berkeley* indicates that, each year, our members collectively save:
  • 25+ million pounds of CO2
  • a million gallons of gas
And together, members:
  • drive 30,000 fewer miles/day
  • increase their use of alternative transportation by up to 50%
Now that's something to celebrate!

7th Birthday Discounts for All

To celebrate our 7th year, we're giving birthday discounts!

50% Off At 7 Select Pods

From March 11th to 31st we're giving a discount on every reservation at these pods:
  • Oakland/Old Oakland: 8th & Broadway
  • Oakland/West Oakland: West Oakland BART
  • Berkeley/Downtown: Kittredge & Milvia (Library Gardens Apts)
  • San Francisco/Forest Hill: Portola & Woodside (Twin Peaks Gas)
  • San Francisco/Noe Valley: Grand View & 24th
  • San Francisco/Western Addition: O'Farrell & Broderick (Kaiser Permanente)
  • San Francisco/SOMA: Gough & Market (City College)
Tip: Night owl rates are 50¢/hour for all members — or free for SharePlus members, as always.

Sign Up for $7. Pass It On.

For the month of March, we're lowering the $30 application fee for ShareLocal and SharePlus applicants to $7. So don't forget to tell your friends to sign up in March - they'll save $23. And we'll still give you and your friend $40 in Tell-a-Friend credits to share. That's a $63 value for each new member you refer to City CarShare.

Still Growing After All These Years

Like bulbs in spring, our pod locations grow fast.

Check out our latest fleet additions:

New Pods
  • West Berkeley: Addison & Acton (Strawberry Creek Lodge)
  • San Francisco (Sunset): Judah & 19th (Union 76)
More cars added to these SF pods:
  • Mission Bay: Toyota Tacoma Truck!
  • Potrero Hill: 24th & Utah
  • Lower Haight: Page & Steiner
  • Richmond: 6th & Geary

7 March Mythbusters

Myth: City CarShare is just like any other car share provider.

Fact: Not true! There are many ways we are different. Here are seven ways City CarShare is different:
  • Lowest driving rates. The average trip costs less than $6.50/hour when hours and miles are combined.

  • The best insurance you can get. You're covered up to $1 million per incident.

  • "Greenest" fleet. All of our 10 types of cars are at or near the highest level of fuel efficiency in their class. Most of our cars are priced at the standard $5/hour rate.

  • Socially responsible organization. Part of the public good as a not-for-profit provider, and a 'founder' and only local signer of the industry's Code of Ethics.

  • Convenience with responsibility. 15-minute time increments to help you spend less; Extended Freedom trips at low rates for longer distance trips; Night Owl Savings; the right number of cars at each of over 140 locations;

  • Local, friendly staff. As the only locally operated car share provider, our staff lives here and understands what it means to get around the Bay Area.

  • Down to earth fines and fees. Our fees are reasonable and so are we — for example, if you're a couple of minutes late, we don't charge you a big fee.

7 Self Help Driving Tips

Here are seven handy tips to keep your sharing experience positive:
  • Print your confirmation when reserving from a new pod and take it with you. That way you'll have handy maps and instructions.

  • Give yourself more time to return the car. Reservations can be made in 15-minute increments, making it easy to add a little buffer time at the end of your trip. This means less stress for you and helps you share responsibly. (Example: 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM instead of 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)

  • Use the automated system to extend your reservation. Just call 877-363-0710 or go to citycarshare.org/m with your wireless web enabled cell phone to extend when you know you need more time.

  • Use the gas card to fill up the tank. The card, the VIN number and 98% of all stations make this an easy chore. If you're at Arco or the gas card fails, pay for the gas. Get a receipt and submit it for reimbursement. We'll pay you back by crediting your account.

  • Update your (cell) phone numbers. Log in and select the Account Info tab at the top of the screen and make sure we have your current cell phone number. This allows us to contact you if there is a problem with your reservation or vehicle before you're inconvienced.

  • Don't forget your stuff. Make sure you remove everything you brought into the car, including trash. If you happen to find something that's not yours, leave it in the car (in an inconspicuous place like the glove box or trunk.)

  • Fob in, Fob out. Always fob out whenever you leave the vehicle during your reservation or when your reservation is finished. Fobbing out engages the car's security system and most importantly it lets us know when you've finished your reservation. If you don't fob out when your reservation is finished you could be charged for extra time. Extra tip: After you fob out, pull on the door handle to make sure that the car is locked and secure.

Partnership Celebrates City Life

For you old-time City CarShare members, you may remember that City CarShare was organized out of the offices of San Francisco's wonderful public policy think tank, SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association). SPUR has always been a huge supporter of City CarShare. In fact, SPUR's Executive Director, Gabriel Metcalf, served as Chair of the City CarShare Board for many years. As Gabriel explained it: "when we heard about car-sharing in Europe it was immediately clear that this is what San Francisco needed. It's the perfect missing niche in our transportation system."

We are very pleased to announce a partnership between SPUR and City CarShare: We're giving member discounts to each other! SPUR members can join City CarShare at a discount.

City CarShare members can join SPUR for $55 (a 20% savings off the regular member rate!) Go online to sign up for SPUR membership at www.spur.org/join and enter City CarShare 2008 in the notes box (or send a check with the same thing written on the memo line) to qualify.

Thanks for Sharing!
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 x6203

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