Monday, July 30, 2007

Car Sharing

There's a new alternative that makes renting cars easier and more practical than ever before. Many cities now have companies renting cars that are available to rent by the hour or by the day. What's new about that, you ask? A few things...

1. The rental process is done entirely on line.
You sign up and the company mails you a card. When you want to rent, you can check the availability and reserve the car through the internet. Then you just go to the car and hold up your card to the window and the door unlocks and you are set to go. At the end of your rental period, you return the car to the original spot.

2. Many companies include insurance and gas.

3. Cars are strategically placed to make them accessible to people that may not have easy access to a car. For example, on college campuses or in busy cities. A college student without a car could have easy to a car to run on errands.

Sounds like a great way to get the benefits of having a car for occasional errands without the high cost of ownership. Check out two of the companies offering this service: zipcar and flexcar.

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