Reminder: U Car Share is Here – Green Streeters Sign-Up For Free!
This is a reminder that U Car Share has arrived in Portland and Green Streeters can sign up for FREE until March 1st! For additional information read on (and see additional comments at the end of the post for helpful info for starting out…)
Thanks to many of you participating in a grassroots initiative to bring car sharing to Portland, the city has agreed to partner with U Car Share to provide the community with a true car sharing program downtown. In addition, thanks to an exclusive offer from U Car, Green Streets participants can forego the $50 sign-up fee and become U Car members for free!
Car sharing provides convenient access to vehicles which can be reserved for as little as an hour. These car sharing vehicles are available to reserve online 24/7 and grant access to members through the use of smart card technology. By having U Car Share downtown, residents and employees that come into downtown on foot, by bike, bus, ferry, or carpool will have vehicles available on an as-needed basis.
U Car Share has provided four EPA SmartWay-certified PT Cruisers at 2 parking locations downtown. Two vehicles are located on Commercial Street immediately to the east of the intersection with the Maine State Pier (near the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal). The other two vehicles are on Elm Street adjacent to the Public Library and the METRO Pulse.
U Car Share is available to everyone 18 and older that meet the driving criteria. There is a $50 one-time sign up fee to become a member – and no annual fee. Green Streeters should apply online at the U Car Share sign-in page between today and March 1, 2009 to become a U Car Share member for FREE! Choose Portland, Maine and at the bottom of the sign-up form enter the following code GREENSTREETS0209 (the code is case-sensitive).
Rates for U Car Share start at $9.50 per hour or $66 per day. These rates include gas, 125 free miles and insurance. Once approved, a U Car Share member will have access to reserve vehicles any time of the day. Upon a reservation time, the member will take their U Car Share card to the vehicle and swipe in. The doors will unlock and allow the member to use the vehicle for their full reservation period. Upon returning the vehicle, the member will be charged for the time used.
U Car Share has no annual fees and allows members to manage their account online as they see fit depending upon their usage needs. Members can even have their whole family or business sign up under one account with the ability to monitor and restrict access as the primary account holder deems necessary.
Research shows that car sharing is great for the environment. Every shared car on the road can replace up to fifteen personally owned vehicles. This means that fewer cars will need to be manufactured, fewer cars will be on the road and the community’s carbon footprint will be reduced. Car sharing is becoming a critical element of the transportation network in many cities and universities, enabling residents, students and businesses to get rid of their cars and still meet their transportation needs. It also provides some flexibility to Greater Portland families thinking of downsizing to one vehicle. Simply put, a member can walk up to their reserved vehicle, swipe in and drive.
Other benefits of car sharing: it reduces parking demand, provides mobility options, improves air quality, reduces vehicle travel, increases transit ridership, provides more affordable transportation options, reduces car ownership. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) ownership of the average medium sedan costs $6,594+ per year (including gas, maintenance, tires, insurance, license, and registration).
For more information about U Car Share, log on to ucarshare.com
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hey Sarah,
When I try to register at the UCarShare website, and follow the “Open a New Account” link, Portland, Maine isn’t an option in the drop-down menu.
Are we supposed to sign up under another state?
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Christian – thanks for the heads up (I should have tried signing up myself first, huh… I have a call in to U-Car and will keep everyone posted. (And I’ll change the post for now to let folks know they need to wait to signup). Thanks for your patience and have great holidays!
Sarah
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Update from U Car: go ahead and choose another state from the dropdown list – it doesn’t affect your application. And they’re working on adding Maine. So go forth and sign up – thanks all!
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
This is great news. The price is a bit higher than I anticipated but the concept is worth supporting. Is there a Frequent Miles Discount in the works for someone who is considering being a No Car Owner? Actually if the real per mile cost of owning a car is considered, 66/day comes out at about 125 miles, so there is still an economic advantage to keeping the old gas guzzler. dtn3
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Sarah:
The website still shows Portland as coming. Are the cars here? Can we schedule them some other way than online?
January 4th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Hi Denis!
I appreciate your thinking about the math – and/but I question whether anyone would rent a car share vehicle every day – or even every other day. As you and the rest of the car share supporters have discussed, the true advantage of the car share for most folks is they can get rid of one family vehicle (or go car-free) and generally find other ways to get around (walk, bike, bus, carpool) – with the carshare as backup support.
We’re looking forward to it!
January 4th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hi Jeff:
Thanks for your comment and the heads-up – a critical piece is obviously still missing! I called and sent an e-mail today (Sunday) to our contact at U Car and also called the 1-800 number about it. I’m actually not sure the cars are on site yet (they were supposed to be there by 12/29 but I have to admit I haven’t checked) and that may be why they haven’t enabled the reservation system online. Will keep you updated on what we find out!
January 5th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Heard back from U Car – noted today at the top of this post: U Car vehicles have been delivered to Portland and are now in position but U Car is still working out some kinks on its reservation website – check back here to be updated once they are ready to be reserved and driven!
January 6th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Received another update from U Car – noted today at the top of this post: U Car has worked out some kinks on its reservation website and also should be installing the window decals by the end of the day today. Then you should be free to reserve and drive them away!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Yet another update – thanks to Alex Landry for giving the heads up: U Car has to move the vehicles on Monday and Tuesday nights from 11:30pm until 7 am the next morning – due the the City’s regularly scheduled street bans for street cleaning. Some non-U Car Share vehicles have taken the liberty to park in the U Car Share spaces and U Car has to work out for them to be towed. So if you are not seeing the car you reserved it is for that reason and the vehicles are at the U Haul Center on Marginal Way. I think this whole routine will get cleaned up as people become more aware that they are dedicated parking spaces – I know this was an issue with Zipcar up in Bangor.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for the informative and detailed post, Sarah.
Car sharing is a great service that has the potential to help reduce congestion and parking demands. It also makes it easier for people to make a rational choice not to own a vehicle.
However, people need to be aware of the liability they assume when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle. They also need to carefully review the protection that the car sharing service offers.
Our blog has a recent post about this that we hope your readers might find helpful. http://tinyurl.com/949c33
January 14th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Thanks for the feedback, Bob – and I encourage folks to check on your insurance coverage if you already own (and thus find out how much more coverage you may have on top of U Car’s) – or sign up for “named non-owner’s” insurance if you are living car-free.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Comment from Bob’s blog:
“Update: U Car Share did confirm today that members have state minimum liability limits available for their protection. We have recommended to them that they advise their members about the availability of other insurance to protect them for higher limits.”
January 15th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I would love to hear some feedback from people who have already used a car.
February 6th, 2009 at 8:59 am
This just in from Jeff Van West’s experience – some really helpful info:
“Sarah:
I used the U-Share car for the first time today and learned a couple things. One is in the handbook but I missed it. The others are not. You might want to pass this on to your green streets list.
* The car is opened with your card, but it won’t let you in until your reservation period begins. That may seem like a small deal, but when you show up at 6:55 am for your 7 am reservation on Feb 5 when it’s six degrees and the wind is blowing, that’s a long five minutes. They are planning to change this.
* You might not need to take your card out of your wallet to open the car. I could just put my whole wallet against the windshield and it worked fine. Also, you only swipe the card again when you’re completely done using the car. Locking while you have the car is done with the keys or keychain remote.
* While there are two cars at each spot, you actually reserve a specific car. Unfortunately, the website only shows which car you reserved at the very end and it’s not obvious. Your card will only work on the one with your name on it, so you may have to try both cars.
* When your refuel the car, the credit card is over the driver’s sun visor. You must enter your “driver ID number” and odometer reading at the pump. The driver ID number is the four-digit number on your U-share card preceded by 00, as in 001234.
* They’re having an issue in the cold weather with some of the cars. Mine wouldn’t let me start it at first. They’re working or a fix for this. They were able to get me going though.
* The folks at U-haul pick up if you call the 866 number on the card. They have almost no clue what’s going on. Try them first but if you better service ask to be connected to Michael Coleman. (He’s mike@ucarshare.com if you need to email him with comments/ requests.) He’s in Arizona and I had to call him at 7am. Especially considering that was 4 am for him, he was most accommodating and helpful.
The car ran great and did what I needed. Hopefully we’ll see enough use to keep the service going.
Best,
Jeff”
February 24th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I reserved a car online this morning for 9 am at the Elm Street site, and when i got down there, neither cars were there. It turns out that Uhaul had taken them to their lot after the storm the other night and not returned them yet. They did not block off that time on the reservation schedule on the site. I not only missed a class presentation and submitting a paper on time this morning, but Uhaul in Portland can’t even help me get a refund. I have to go through Uhaul’s national office when I get home today.
This was definitely a frustrating experience.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:28 am
That sounds really frustrating, Michelle – especially with the stress of your presentation, etc. Thanks so much for passing on your experience so that hopefully they can work out this new kink. I just forwarded your comment onto the national office as well – and asked that their rep please find a way to block out times when the cars are removed from the site for snow removal or any other reason. They’ve been very responsive as things come up – I just hope they/we can get the kinks worked out (there have been some issues on the Portland streets maintenance etc. end as well) AND that folks keep/start using the vehicles so we keep the service here for the long term.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
National U Car reported recently: “that sort of procedure to block out times during bans and street cleanings is in place but it is a manual process and sometimes it gets overlooked, we are in the process of automating it so that it won’t happen again.”
Thanks for working on it!
June 24th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Thank u, good post! =)