[Sosfbay-discuss] Zipcar, Flexcar to merge car sharing businesses

[Drew Johnson]

I would patronize a Mountain View pod.  Maybe we could create a list of
potential patrons and present it to zipcar and/or city carshare together. 
And once we get one going its only a matter of time till more are started.
 Zipcar is starting up in Santa Cruz by the way.  Their teaming with the
university but non-university people can use it too.


Green is Essence!

Drew


On Thu, November 1, 2007 12:48, Tian Harter wrote:
> There was a pod in Mountain View, but it didn't get enough business to
> keep going. Now that I'm car free, I would take advantage of such a
> service. Every time I see the Zip Car people tabling I tell them "You
> should put a pod in Mountain View. Please join me in this movement!
>
> Tian
> Of course, once they put it in we'll have to patronize it...
>
> Drew Johnson wrote:
>> I would love it if we could talk Zipcar.com or City Carshare into
>> returning car sharing to the southbay.  I think its very possible.
>>
>>
>> Green is Core!
>>
>> Drew
>>
>>
>> Zipcar, Flexcar to merge car sharing businesses
>>
>> Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
>>
>> For the past two years, the Bay Area has been the most competitive
>> market
>> in the nascent but booming business of car sharing, with three companies
>> charging residents to drive any of the hundreds of cars scattered around
>> San Francisco and the East Bay.
>>
>> But the competitive landscape is changing. Zipcar and Flexcar, the two
>> largest and only nationwide car sharing companies, announced Tuesday
>> night
>> that they are merging. The new company will operate under the Zipcar
>> brand
>> and use its technology.
>>
>> Car sharing businesses charge membership fees for round-the-clock access
>> to fleets of vehicles spread across metropolitan areas. Members pay
>> hourly, and sometimes per-mile, rates when they drive the cars. Gasoline
>> and insurance are covered in the price.
>>
>> While the effects of the merger are uncertain, company officials,
>> industry
>> experts and members say the move could help expand the practice of car
>> sharing.
>>
>> Scott Griffith, Zipcar's chief executive officer, hailed the merger as
>> good for car sharing. Since the two firms have little overlap in
>> locations, they said, the combined company will give members better
>> access
>> to more vehicles in more cities, and allow additional investments in
>> technology, vehicles and expansion.
>>
>> "This merger is a classical example of the whole being larger than the
>> sum
>> of its parts," he said.
>>
>> San Francisco is one of two cities where both Zipcar and Flexcar
>> operate.
>> Washington is the other. City CarShare, a nonprofit group, brought car
>> sharing to the Bay Area in 2001, and the two for-profit companies
>> followed
>> four years later.
>>
>> City CarShare has 15,000 Bay Area members who share 230 vehicles; Zipcar
>> has 12,000 members using a fleet of 430, according to company officials.
>> Flexcar membership figures were not available, but the company has a
>> fleet
>> of 200 vehicles in the Bay Area.
>>
>> Flexcar and Zipcar members said their concerns over shrinking
>> competition
>> would be outweighed by the increased access to cars - both in the Bay
>> Area
>> and in other cities served by the merged company.
>>
>> "As a member, I think it's great," said Tara Hunt, 33, who owns an
>> Internet marketing consulting business, lives in San Francisco and
>> belongs
>> to Zipcar. "I love competition, and there will still be competition with
>> City CarShare, but this gives me more access to more cars in more
>> neighborhoods."
>>
>> She'll also have access in more cities around the United States, Canada
>> and England. In addition to San Francisco and Washington, Zipcar
>> operates
>> in New York, Boston, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto and London. Flexcar
>> locations include Seattle, Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, San Diego,
>> Atlanta
>> and Pittsburgh. Both companies also provide car sharing on dozens of
>> college campuses.
>>
>> "It will be nice to have access in more cities," Hunt said. "I travel a
>> lot."
>>
>> Keith Kamisugi, a San Francisco publicist, belongs to both Flexcar and
>> Zipcar, since one has more cars available near his home and the other
>> has
>> more available near his job.
>>
>> "If they keep both companies' locations, it will be great for me," he
>> said. "I'll get the best of both worlds."
>>
>> Rick Hutchinson, chief executive officer of City CarShare, said he's not
>> concerned that the merger will drive the nonprofit out of business.
>>
>> "We've always been very supportive of anything that promotes car sharing
>> in the Bay Area," he said, pointing out that City CarShare's membership
>> and fleet have swelled since the two for-profit firms entered the
>> market.
>> "I wish all car share firms the best of luck. I just hope there's not
>> too
>> much disruption with the merger, trouble for members that would push
>> them
>> away from car sharing."
>>
>> Susan Shaheen, a UC Berkeley researcher who focuses on the car sharing
>> industry, said the merger should help the new company nationally in
>> terms
>> of economies of scale and marketing, as well as the San Francisco
>> challenge of finding and leasing parking spaces in desirable locations.
>>
>> Shaheen said the merger seems to be following the same road that car
>> sharing traveled in Europe, where it's been popular for at least a
>> decade:
>> starting as a grassroots effort, moving into a growth and exploration
>> phase, then attaining profitability. Dave Brook, a car sharing expert
>> who
>> founded a Portland car share firm that merged years ago with Flexcar,
>> agreed.
>>
>> "This is kind of a landmark," he said of the merger. "It's kind of funny
>> to think of car sharing as an industry, but I guess it is now. A lot of
>> people are going to be watching to see where it goes."
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Tian
> http://tian.greens.org
> Last evening I saw Mayor Macias of Mountain View sign the
> Mayors Climate Change Protection Agreement in our City Hall.
> Today's paper said the earthquake that followed was a 5.6.
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