So I have written several times before about the pitfalls of being a bike rider in a big city. Often there are not bike lanes, traffic is rude, or worse dangerous, and the weather tends not to co-operate. The worst one of all is when I just CANNOT get somewhere without a car. I personally do not own a car and many of my friends do not either. Insurance, maintenance, gas, pollution and a million other reasons for me not to own my own car. But the problem is our society is built for cars. If I want to get to the far north of my town you need a car. So I tried services that rent, or the bus, and still sometimes I had to be the friend calling to borrow the car.
Well now I found a great idea out of Boston, (its also in San Fransisco) one that is moving to a nationwide platform before to long I hope. It’s called RelayRides car rentals.
So you can go check out their website, register to rent a car, OR you can register to rent your car out. Make that disused gas guzzler as shared car. It will help pay for all the aforementioned cost of ownership. They have a great insurance policy.
From their Website:
“Just need to run a few errands? Why deal with car ownership or the hassle of traditional car sharing when RelayRides lets you borrow your neighbors’ cars from as low as $5/hr. Or if you own a car, don’t just let it sit around when you could be making up to $7,000/year loaning it out safely and securely.”
RelayRides start at $5/hr with gas and insurance included, but since the cars belong to your neighbors, they’re conveniently located just down the street AND you keep the money local. Personally I think the founder, Shelby Clark, shows well how the money stays local, a double bonus. This isn’t some centralized rental company, I may soon be able to rent my neighbors Toyota. Imagine the local economy boost this could bring!
The average car is only used 1 hour per day. By letting your neighbors borrow your car, you’re keeping an average of 15 other cars off the road while reducing overall driving.
You can check out the five easy steps to get signed up, its a snap. This isn’t the ultimate fix, but it’s a pretty good one!