Share Now/Car2Go ending service in North America in February

Okay that’s funny….

Hmmmm, I know a number of people who use Car2Go and normally would love to drive. They don’t use it to be environmentally conscious. They use it because they cannot afford to pay for long-term parking for their own vehicle. So they rent a car as needed, and otherwise take public transportation. One contributing factor is that many cities were charging exorbitant prices for parking spots for the cars and severely limiting the spots in some areas as well. Seattle is likely one of those cities.

Car shares were very widely used, by both car owners and non-owners. In fact, one of the negatives of car share was that they were so well used, it was difficult to find one, so some people likely stopped trying for car share.

Also, permit fees were around $1,800 per vehicle per year, which was based on an estimate of loss of revenue generated by an average meter for one year due to allow car shares to occupy metered locations. That is extremely reasonable, especially since there doesn’t appear to be an master permit fee.

What likely killed car share is the cost of maintaining a fleet of free roaming cars that get a lot of city driving, which is especially harsh on vehicles. A car that needs service requires getting an employee to that vehicle and (assuming it is still driveable), drive it to a service center, which is likely outside City limits or in an area that is not easy to get to. Those costs add up very quickly.