{"id":9410,"date":"2011-11-03T13:57:27","date_gmt":"2011-11-03T17:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=9410"},"modified":"2011-11-03T13:58:24","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T17:58:24","slug":"two%e2%80%99s-company-car-sharing-program-challenged-by-low-membership-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/city-council\/2011\/11\/03\/two%e2%80%99s-company-car-sharing-program-challenged-by-low-membership-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Two\u2019s Company: Car Sharing Program Challenged by Low Membership, Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

It started as an idea: Bring car sharing to Raleigh.<\/p>\n

But duplicated efforts to do so have resulted in two separate programs. And as one downtown group advocates for WeCar, the city and local colleges have moved forward with zipcar.<\/p>\n

In a market where some wonder if car sharing is feasible, the second question is can both survive?<\/p>\n

First Things First<\/strong>
\nCar sharing enables users to pay an annual fee for access to vehicles. Cars are then borrowed on an hourly, daily or overnight basis. Such programs are common in urban areas where car ownership and parking fees may be cost prohibitive and less attractive for residents with access to multiple public transit options.<\/p>\n

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which operates WeCar<\/a>, launched car sharing in downtown Raleigh in 2010 with two vehicles. One sat in front of the West building; the other resides at the Enterprise lot on McDowell Street.<\/p>\n

WeCar entered the market with the help and endorsement of the Downtown Living Advocates<\/a>, a 500-member group representing downtown residents. Originally the DLA approached city officials, who issued a request for proposal that \u201cwent nowhere,\u201d according to DLA Chair Brian Reece.<\/p>\n

Reece, who doesn\u2019t own and car and lives downtown, said he began working with Enterprise in an effort to serve DLA members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t going to wait on the city,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to do this. [Our attitude was] what can we do? How can we help? We knew we needed some big corporate types to keep this afloat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A WeCar is parked at the Enterprise lot on McDowell Street. Photo by Jennifer Wig.<\/p><\/div>\n

Then There Were Two<\/strong>
\nEnterprise spokesperson Lisa Martini said WeCar began the program with plans to expand through future partnerships with the city and area universities.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the DLA began wooing WeCar, Raleigh officials issued a second request for proposal for car sharing in conjunction with NC State University<\/a> and Meredith College<\/a>. WeCar was not selected as the car sharing provider.<\/p>\n

Instead, zipcar<\/a> launched at both colleges in February. Although mainly used by students, the car program is open to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeCar was not awarded the contract, which didn\u2019t make sense to me,\u201d Reece said. \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t you try to support that and why would you bring in another car sharing program?\u201d<\/p>\n

Governments and universities issue requests for proposals as a way to offer fair competition. NC State Transportation Planner Alison Carpenter said they followed protocol by issuing an RFP and choosing the best provider.<\/p>\n

Teaming with Meredith and the city seemed like the best way to offer a uniform service across the community, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of having reciprocity across the community is really appealing,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cIt would be really nice if it was the same in the downtown Raleigh area, which is why we wanted to join our RFP in 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, officials from the three entities produced a qualification matrix. Zipcar and Hertz Connect<\/a> were both called for interviews in the end, zipcar was the best choice, Carpenter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt that zipcar had a more seamless interface and better provisions in terms of insurance,\u201d she said. \u201cThey had higher liability coverage than Hertz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meredith College Sustainability Coordinator Laura Fieselman said zipcar\u2019s smooth interface with Smartphones and large market share nationwide also contributed to their choice.<\/p>\n

Two\u2019s Company<\/strong>
\nWeCar prefers to have at least 50 members to support a vehicle. With WeCar\u2019s Raleigh membership at 22, and no future plans for city participation, WeCar was ready to refocus its efforts. One of the cars was moved last month to Duke University, where WeCar launched a 16-car program. Several hundred people are signed up to use the cars.<\/p>\n

At first, Martini told the Record the other car would be relocated soon. But Reece said he is still discussing the issue with city officials. Meanwhile, the WeCar remains parked at Enterprise\u2019s rental lot downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to put WeCar back on the table and see if that is an option,\u201d Reece said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although zipcar has launched at both campuses, the city has yet to install cars downtown.<\/p>\n

Raleigh Transit Administrator David Eatman said the zipcar contract is under review by city staff.<\/p>\n

Zipcar has no scheduled launch date for downtown yet, \u201cbut we\u2019d like to think that will be fairly soon,\u201d Eatman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest delay was trying to work with … dealing with some internal issues with how we would place the vehicles … whether they would be in decks or on street,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kathy Molin of the city\u2019s Public Works Department said the program will not need to be approved by City Council. Staff will instead present councilors with information about zipcar\u2019s program, but that presentation has not been scheduled, Molin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still continuing to work with the DLA to see if there is support for the [WeCar] program,\u201d Molin said. \u201cI know they want to continue to work with the city and keep it viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the city and colleges selected zipcar, the city is not providing a special deal for employees. Having a second service doesn\u2019t prevent anyone from using the other one, Eatman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no financial obligations to the contract,\u201d he said. \u201cAll we\u2019re doing is providing a place for the vehicles. It\u2019s not really geared toward the city; it\u2019s really geared toward downtown residents or commuters as an alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Raleigh Ready?<\/strong>
\nReece said car sharing seemed a gamble. Downtown boasts only about 5,000 residents and most own cars. That may be the reason for WeCar’s low membership numbers. But it\u2019s a service Reece wants offered as downtown grows and becomes more urban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept is so new,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the challenge. A lot of people want to do it but they just can\u2019t make that jump of having one car. But most anything that\u2019s considered pioneering, there\u2019s a risk. Just like for all of us moving down into the condo market is a risk. But I think if we continue educating and making the awareness of the program, I think people will start seeing the benefit of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Meredith\u2019s Fieselman and NC State\u2019s Carpenter say Raleigh is ready for car sharing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Raleigh\u2019s ready. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt in that,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cI thought when we went through this whole RFP process, the city was going to go into contract pretty soon and we were going to get the ball rolling. I certainly think we\u2019re all ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raleigh may be ready for one program, but two is another matter. WeCar\u2019s Martini said they are \u201cstill really interested and looking forward to working with the city of Raleigh.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she also said they began \u201cwith the hope that we could expand the program once the RFP came out and then do some expansion there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With WeCar doing well in Durham and competition on the way, it may just be a matter of time.<\/p>\n

Reece plans to meet with city officials Friday to discuss the situation. If nothing else, the Downtown Living Advocates succeeded in bringing car sharing to Raleigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DLA \u2014 we just kind of opened the doors and [wanted to] try to share how important it is to have an amenity like this,\u201d Reece said.<\/p>\n

jwig@raleighpublicrecord.org<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Duplicated efforts to bring car sharing to Raleigh resulted in two separate programs. As one downtown group advocates for WeCar, city government and local colleges have moved forward with zipcar. Can Raleigh handle two car sharing programs? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24025,"featured_media":9412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,15,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24025"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}