Zipping and flexing
Imagine if you didn’t have to make monthly car payments, ante up costly insurance premiums, or fill ‘er up with gas once a week. Imagine if you had none of the headaches of car ownership, but all of the benefits.
Ryan Brown and his fiancé, Jennifer Dasch live in a condo in Arlington and have only a two-seater car between the two of them. If Brown is out of town on business and Dasch needs a car, she simply takes a 10-minute walk, jumps into a brand new Volkswagen and zips off to her destination. You might call it her Zipcar.
Or you might call it one of any number of names that new auto-sharing companies are giving to their products. In the D.C. and Northern Virginia area, Zipcar and Flexcar are two national companies that offer a membership-only car sharing service in large cities. Cars are parked in strategically convenient locations throughout the cities, and members simply reserve a car and use a special card to unlock it when needed.
Brown works from home and Dasch walks to work, so a car sharing program was the perfect solution for them on the few occasions when they both need a vehicle or if they need more than two seats when family or friends visit.
“We first used Zipcar when we were in Boston,” Brown said. “We flew up there and used the T (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system) to get around, but we borrowed a car when we went to see friends in the suburbs. We can use it in any big city where it’s available.”
“We looked into renting a car instead,” Brown said. “But Jen is not insured since she doesn’t have a car, so we’d have to pay for insurance if she were going to drive. With Zipcar, insurance is included. Plus, if you rent, you have to pay for gas, so it ends up being a better deal for us. We also don’t have to wait in line at a rental counter and fill out paperwork every time. We love the convenience.”
Pricing
In addition to the yearly $20 fee, Zipcar members pay $8.50 to $10.50 per hour during the high-demand summer months, plus 18¢ per mile after 125 free miles. Flexcar members pay a one-time fee of $25 to join and $8 an hour which includes 10 free miles per hour. Both companies offer other pricing plans as well.
HOW IT WORKS:
Members pay an application and membership fee, then are charged by the hour and/or mile for using a vehicle. They dial a 24-hour reservation line or go online to reserve a car.
After making the reservation, members unlock the car with their personal card. Reservations are sent wirelessly to the cars so they open only to the right person at the right car at the right time.
