What is Car Sharing and How Does It Work?

Welcome to How You Got There, a Colorado CarShare podcast exploring the intersection of adventure, regular everyday life and transportation through the stories of our fellow Coloradans. 

 Is this your first time learning about Colorado CarShare and wondering how it works? 

Drivers in good standing apply for membership and choose a subscription plan based on their driving needs. Members are then able to reserve cars that are located throughout the Denver and Boulder metro area and Summit County.. Members pay only for the time and mileage usage during each driving session. 

That’s it. 

Don’t have a car, are a one car family and would like additional access to a car without the monthly expenses? Colorado CarShare may be the right fit for you. 

Go to www.carshare.org to learn more.

Listen to the Episode

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Episode Show Notes

In today’s episode I thought it would be helpful to answer the question “What is Car Sharing and How Does It Work” by sharing my experience as a long-time user of Colorado CarShare. If you’re thinking about signing up, live in a different part of the world that has systems similar to this one or are just intrigued by the idea of participating in a carshare program, I hope you’ll find this short episode interesting. Also, could you do me a favor and share this episode with a friend? 

Car Sharing as a practice has been around in some form or another since cars have been in existence. Car Sharing, put simply, is allowing multiple people to use the same car. A car sharing program such as Colorado CarShare typically would have a small or  large number of cars that members can reserve based on their needs.  In the United States there are both for-profit and nonprofit Car Share companies and programs. 

Many of the earliest experiments with this type of service happened in Europe. Most notably, the first formalized car share experiment took place in a Swiss housing co-op in1948. 

CarSharing systems in the United States launched in 1983 one program at Purdue University and the other in San Francisco. Finally the first formal program launched in Portland, Oregon in 1998. I would like to thank the UrbanismNext website for providing the information that I just shared on the early origins of car sharing. 

And no story about car sharing would be complete on How You Got There without sharing Colorado CarShare’s origin story. In 1997 some folks in Boulder created the “Little Red Car Co-op” in order to lower their environmental footprint. In 2006 Colorado CarShare was granted 501 ©3 status and in 2020 formally rebranded from eGoCarshare to Colorado CarShare-I love the rebrand. 

One thing that I do want to make sure to mention is the financial impact on a car share member’s wallet. How much are we potentially saving by not owning a car or embracing a car lite lifestyle.  According to a recent AAA survey, the average car owner who drives at least 15,000 miles a year will spend over $12,000 annually on car expenses. Personally, I think I’m spending around $1200 a year on transportation expenses for in-town driving and the occasional road trip. This is incredible for me to think about especially given how expensive things have gotten. 

How Does CarSharing Actually Work?

I thought it would be interesting to share best practices and some things to consider. All comments from this point forward are specific to being a member of Colorado CarShare.

If you were to ask how a car share works. Most folks would say “I reserve a time that I need and then I pick up the car” I’m going to give a more thought answer.

Typically before I reserve a car through the Colorado CarShare online portal, I’m thinking about what it is I’m actually needing the car for. In my case there are some errands that I could do on foot, via public or by bike. But, sometimes you just feel like hoping in a car and getting a lot of stuff done. Those are the days when I’m hauling stuff, taking things to Goodwill, doing a large grocery haul that I don’t want to order online because I’m afraid the shopper will grab the wrong things. 

Or, I would to go on a road trip. I love a member of Colorado CarShare because I don’t have to own a car and I still have access to the mountains and the outdoors. Which is incredibly important to me. I’m a huge fan of Bustang by the way, but some of my favorite hiking trails just aren’t accessible with that service. So, having a car allows me to participate in Meetup groups and other communities where we maybe be exploring the outdoors doing things such as hiking, camping or skiing. 

My personal best practices:

• If I’m booking a car for 3 hours I’ll add an extra ½ hour to the booking because something always comes up.

• Know the right gas to put in the car. 

• I never book a time that starts exactly when someone else’s time ends. They may run late. 

• I always fill up the tank-and honestly we’re supposed to if there’s less than half a tank left in the car. 

• If I’m using a car that’s new to me (especially a hybrid or EV) I’ve been known to watch a quick YouTube video on the car so that I know what to expect when using it.

• After a road trip I always take the car to the Waterworks Car Wash for a basic wash and detail  because Colorado CarShare has a standing account with them. Make sure to tip the team after the car is done.

• Over Communicate-If there is something that you notice about the car, let the team know. When you’ve completed your reservation and returned the car-you can go into your reservation portal and leave a note so that they know about a concern.

• Review the membership rules and expectations from time to time.

• Sign up for the newsletter

• If you’re using an all Electric Vehicle or Hybrid-pay attention to the battery life. Using an EV is a totally different podcast episode. 

• You can add money to your account if you want to do a “pay ahead” approach to your car share usage.

Little things to be aware of. You’re always going to be adjusting your seat. There’s a really tall person who uses the car I use most often and I’m always moving my seat forward.

Booking at the last minute might get a little tricky. There may be cars available but maybe not the one closest to you. I’m not as spontaneous with my car usage. I’m a lot more thoughtful about when do I actually need to use a car. 

Look at the car details shared when you book a reservation, until recently there were a few cars that weren’t ideal for mountain usage and that was indicated in the reservation details. 

As a driver it’s kind of fun being able to try out different cars that you normally wouldn’t have the chance to try out. Because of my Colorado CarShare Membership I know that I love driving the Chevy Bolt, the Toyota Rav 4, the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, and the Nissan Sentra SV.

Car Sharing has changed my life, saved me tons of money and given me the opportunity to experience my state even though I no longer own a car. Car sharing has been a wonderful experience. 

If you’re looking to start your car sharing journey and live in the Denver/Boulder metro area or Summit county-head to carshare.org to learn more. 

The following podcast episode is a Creators Getting Paid Production. Visit CreatorsGettingPaid.com/production to learn about producing a show for your organization.