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Cool Stuff
Don’t want to own a car? Share one.
By Jana Eisenberg
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Car share team: Desmond Tavernier, Christopher Drucker, Todd Salansky, James Simon, Christina Kasprzak, Alan Soh, Adam Blair, Michael Galigano, and Enos Han.
Photo by Kristin Grove.
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For some people, cars are prized possessions. For others they are necessary evils—the only way, often, to get from point A to point B. Buffalo CarShare (www.buffalocarshare.org) is an organization made to order for the latter group. BCS launched this spring thanks to a $149,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).
The aim of carsharing is to provide the mobility of a vehicle without the costs, inconveniences, and environmental impact of individual car ownership.
The concept began in Europe in the late eighties and has spread throughout the world since. Canada introduced it in the early nineties; Portland, Oregon, was the first U.S. city to try it, and currently hundreds of cities across the country are doing it.
Buffalo and environs now get to reap the benefits of this not-for-profit business.
Here’s how it works: members pay a low fee, which includes maintenance, insurance, and gas. BCS stores shared vehicles in neighborhoods that meet a certain set of criteria. A member reserves online and goes and gets the car. Clever electronic devices track time, mileage, and other usage statistics. After a trip to Ikea, or a visit to Granny in Ithaca, the member returns (parks) the car, soon thereafter receiving a very reasonable bill. The current BCS rates are $5–8/hour plus $0.20/mile.
The carsharing concept works in urban, densely populated areas; those that are supported with public transportation and walkable amenities. It is also ideal for university populations and has potential for economically challenged areas. Over thirty percent of Buffalo’s population does not own a car; this is one of the highest national percentages.
Ideally, without a personally owned car, members take the bus, bike, carpool, or walk to the majority of their daily activities. The Elmwood Village, Allentown, and the lower West Side are the designated BCS starter territories. I asked BCS staffer Chris Drucker if there are any downsides to the concept. “Only that everyone doesn’t fit the model,” he said. “Studies and data show that for every shared car, five or six personally owned vehicles come off the road. If everyone fit the criteria, there would be nothing but shared cars on the road.”
The biggest hurdle for carsharing? Our collective reticence at the thought of not owning a car. My six-mile round-trip commute takes about twelve minutes each way. Can/should I give up my car and take the bus? These are the kinds of questions we have to ask ourselves if we want to decrease carbon emissions and have a chance of not wrecking the planet forever.
Jana Eisenberg is a freelance writer living in Buffalo.
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