This week in Austin, Texas there will be an announcement of The Cars2Go program. It goes like this from the email I received:
“This month, FastCompany identified car2go as one of the 2010 best and boldest ideas to construct the perfect city. It’s going to revolutionize the way we address our transportation needs in congested cities, and Austin may be just the beginning. It also demonstrates how Daimler is leading the auto industry by expanding its core business and creating new business models to address the changing needs of society.
“Imagine a fleet of 200 car2gos, located throughout your city. You can take off at affordable “by-the-minute” rates whenever you want without worrying about fuel, insurance, maintenance or even parking. Unlike traditional car sharing programs, Residents of Austin will soon be able to rent a car and be charged by the minute, rather than a full day, and charges include not only fuel but also parking. There is NO OTHER PROGRAM LIKE THIS anywhere in the U.S. Members can drive where they want and for as long as they want, then can simply park the car at their final destination within the greater Downtown Area and be done. With car2go, you do not need to return the car to the spot where you picked it up.
“Car2go recently concluded a 6-month pilot program with the City of Austin and will be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 20th for their innovative efforts to improve air quality.”
The program is noteworthy but not the first. The authors of this program should give Zipcar and a few others a little credit for there pioneering work in this area of conservation and innovation.