View online at http://www.citycarshare.org/newsletters/2009-11/

City CarShare Newsletter
Sports Basement Shopping Party (discount included!)
New Plans for Businesses
The Arts: Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Diablo Ballet
Give Thanks on Yelp
New East Bay Pods
Catch Saving the Bay
Green Driving Tip
City CarShare is Hiring
More ways to keep in touch:

Sports Basement Shopping Party (discount included!)

It's never too early to start your holiday shopping! On December 3 from 5 pm to 8 pm, join us at Sports Basement (1590 Bryant Street in San Francisco) for an exclusive City CarShare member shopping party. Sports Basement has great gifts for any sports enthusiast on your list with gear and apparel ranging from snowboarding, yoga, running, team sports, swimming and much more. During our shopping party you'll get an extra 15% off already low prices. Plus, Sport's Basement will donate 5% of your purchases back to City CarShare. To sweeten the deal and help you maintain your shopping stamina, treats, beverages and beer will be served to keep you energized.

Since we're ringing in the Holidays, the more the merrier. Bring three or more friends, and you'll be entered in a raffle to win a Sports Basement certificate. We will also be running a great deal for any buddies you bring who sign up. You will get $25 in free driving and any of your friends who sign up will also get $25 in free driving.

Also, as one of our Member Perks partners, Sports Basement gives City CarShare members a 10% discount year-round anytime you shop at any of Sports Basement's four stores. Just show your key fob at the register when you check out.

New Plans for Businesses

This month we are pleased to introduce our new business plans: Biz Value, Biz Prime and our revised Nonprofit Discount plan. These three plans offer a range of options for businesses of all sizes. They are designed to provide flexibility and low cost, while supporting your company's efforts to be 'green'.

Business driving needs vary. Whether you need to get to a meeting, take an occasional long distance trip out of town, or need to transport multiple people with luggage from the airport - City CarShare provides a low cost solution. With our service, your employees don't have to bring their own cars to work because there's always a car available in case they need one. In fact, we offer 18 different types of vehicles, all at the top of their class in fuel and emission efficiency, from hundreds of locations. In addition, to encourage employees to drive less, business member employees can add personal use while skipping the application fee. Since our service reduces CO2 emissions and lowers pollution, we support our business members' efforts to green their operations and encourage employees to reduce congestion and save money.

From now until the end of November you can earn $100 in driving credit* when you get your employer to sign up for one of our business plans. (Just make sure they enter your name as the referral source on their business application). Click here to check out our new business plans. For more information, please give member services a call at 415-995-8588.

PS- Did you get the memo? Starting November 1, our driving plans and rates for individuals and household accounts were modified. Please see our website for our new plans and rates. And don't forget: if you refer a friend you both get to share $40 in credits ($20 in driving credits* each). With our newly launched Share-a-Little plan, there's now an option for those who rarely need a car but like the security of having one available. That means you can cast a wider net among your friends to cash in on referral credits! To learn more, check out our Tell-a-Friend program.

The Arts: Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Diablo Ballet

City CarShare supports our community in many ways. We particularly love it when we can promote a local arts institution and provide you with a discount. So go ahead - walk, take Bart or share a City CarShare hybrid - and get out there and get some culture!

Berkeley Repertory Theatre invites you to a magical performance of
Aurélia's Oratorio at 20% off!

In celebration of the new partnership between Berkeley Rep and City CarShare, Berkeley Repertory Theatre would like to jump-start the gift giving season with an invitation: experience the dazzling display of stage illusion in Aurélia's Oratorio at a special discounted price. Aurélia Thierree literally grew up in the circus and has enthralled audiences around the world with this mesmerizing theatrical treat. Behind her velvet curtain lies a surreal world of surprises, a topsy-turvy time of tricks and transformations!

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre located in downtown Berkeley is a Tony Award-winning company that produces adventurous, ambitious work. Berkeley Rep strives to engage their audiences in an ongoing dialogue of ideas, and encourage lifelong learning as a core community value. Thrilling local audiences and sending shows to Broadway, Berkeley Rep is "on fire," according to last week's New York Times, and a front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle recently called the Theatre one of "Broadway's most important farm teams." The Berkeley Rep experience extends beyond the stage as well, with post-show parties, free tastings, and a delectable variety of interactive experiences.

As a City CarShare member, the following December performances of Aurélia's Oratorio are available at a 20% discount:
  • Thursday, December 10th - 8pm
  • Sunday, December 13th - 2pm and 7 pm
  • Wednesday, December 16th - 7pm
  • Saturday, December 19th - 8pm
To redeem this offer, select one of these performances from the Berkeley Rep calendar. When logging in, use the promotional code 4872 to access the discounted tickets. (This offer is only available online. Offer subject to availability. Some restrictions may apply.)

Special Diablo Ballet Discounts

See Walnut Creek's renowned Diablo Ballet at a special discount price! For 16 years, Diablo Ballet has been one of the West Coast's leading dance companies, presenting innovative and exciting works that have entertained thousands and received local and national critical acclaim.

City Car Share members may receive $24 tickets ($10 off the regular price) to Diablo Ballet's season premiere on Friday, Nov 20th and Saturday, Nov 21st 7:30 PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. The program features George Balanchine's legendary Apollo, Saint-Léon comic ballet masterpiece Coppelia, and the world premier of Fete for Three. These tickets also admit you to exclusive pre-performance happy hours with drink specials, complimentary appetizers, and drawings for great prizes at two top Walnut Creek restaurants (November 20th at Silk Road Restaurant at 1440 North Main Street and November 21st at Prima Vina Ristorante at1552 North Main Street).

To order tickets, call the Lesher Center for the Arts box office at 925-943-7469. To receive these special tickets, you must mention the code Diablo Ballet Friend before you place your order. This special is not available through on-line ordering. For more information, please visit www.diabloballet.org or call 925-943-1775 extension 0.

Give Thanks on Yelp

With Thanksgiving around the corner, this time of year reminds us all to find things, people or places that inspire gratitude. At City CarShare we are thankful for our dedicated members sharing our cars and reducing CO2 emissions by over 55 million pounds this year alone, from contaminating our beautiful Bay Area.

Aren't you thankful that you have access to a car while not having to deal with the various hassles of car ownership like paying for gas, insurance and maintenance expenses? Remember the last time you returned a car and you got to slide right into that open reserved parking space instead of orbiting for parking? Maybe you are pleased that as a member of a local nonprofit car share organization you are supporting special programs like the nation's first and only shared wheelchair accessible vehicle (the CCS AccessMobile); our partnerships with the Bay Area Wilderness Training and over 20 youth organizations to serve at risk youth; and our CommunityShare program, which extends car sharing at a discounted rate to people of low-income, with partners like Glide and Resources for Community Development.

Next time you are Yelping about the new restaurant that opened on your block, why not share some praise for your favorite car share organization too? We love it when people share the word about City CarShare. So, don't be shy about posting the reasons you love City CarShare on Yelp, your blog or favorite social networking site! Thanks to all the Yelpers out there for giving us props and feedback.

Let the Yelping begin! Click here to write your review.

New East Bay Pods

As our membership grows, so does our number of pods and cars. Here are our pod additions coming soon:
  • Alameda: Downtown: Central & Oak
  • Oakland: Piedmont: Howe & Macarthur (Kaiser Permanente Garage)

Learn About Bay Area History - Catch Saving the Bay (again)



Would you like to snag your own copy of the Saving the Bay DVD? Answer Saving the Bay trivia questions correctly on our Facebook page and you will be entered into a drawing for a free DVD. Congratulations to last week's winner Juliet for correctly answering that the San Francisco Bay Area has 1,600 square miles.

Saving the Bay is a documentary that traces the Bay from its geologic origins through years of catastrophic exploitation to the restoration efforts of today. The series will run on KTEH on November 12th from 9-10 pm and will be airing again during the Holidays.

Green Driving Tip: Keep on Rolling

While slow-and-go is better than stop-and-go when you are trying to get somewhere, quick starts and stops use more fuel which means more emissions. Gentle acceleration and braking can save more than $1 per gallon (we’d love that!), according to the U.S. EPA, because smart driving can improve fuel economy by up to 33%. When you are behind the wheel, practice looking ahead down the road to anticipate stops and to coast as much as possible. Smart coasting habits decrease our gas expenses which will help us keep our prices as low as possible—and decrease emissions.

Thanks to member Brenda D, for her suggestion to share tips on green driving! To check our more eco-driving practices, click here

City CarShare is Hiring

If you love car sharing and have stellar customer service skills, apply today for our Member Service Representative position. For more details, click here.

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):
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