For many, car sharing is just steps away

On your daily commute to Center City, you see a silky red Civic Sedan turn onto Vine Street. Along the Schuykill, a jet black Prius breezes past you and a few minutes later, a glacier blue Honda pulls up alongside you on Broad.

The next day, you could be driving all of them. And unlike those car owners, you won't be paying for gas, maintenance or insurance.

Welcome to car sharing, a growing trend for city drivers. Participants choose between hundreds of cars without worrying about the costs of ownership.

In Philadelphia, there are two major players: the local PhillyCarShare and national Zipcar.

Clayton Lane, deputy executive director of PhillyCarShare, said the service was started by volunteers in 2002and grew mostly by word of mouth to its current 55,000 members — including more than 1,000 college students at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple and Drexel — to become the world's largest regional car-share group.

College students, Lane said, are just the right demographic for car sharing. "They may only need a car very occasionally."

Most members drive infrequently, typically once a week or even once a month. Membership is free, but users are charged 16 cents per mile. Rates start at $3.90 per hour. A gas card comes with the car.

A fleet of 500 cars, including 26 makes and models, travel about 50,800 miles a day. Lane said about half the fleet is hybrid cars, including the fleet's most popular car, the Toyota Prius Hybrid. Drivers can take advantage of one free hour in a hybrid per month.

For the last year, PhillyCarShare has partnered with SEPTA, offering drivers a mail-in rebate if they use the Regional Rail or subway to get to their PhillyCarShare car.

"Associating ourselves with SEPTA and transit I think is a very strong and powerful message, that we're providing an alternative to a car," Lane said. "We're really portraying PhillyCarShare as part of the public transportation system," he said.

Fredda Lippes, 55, of University City, said she uses PhillyCarShare as often as three times a week for errands, trips out of town and work at construction sites.

When she picks up her daughter at soccer games, she sometimes takes a MiniCooper. One time, Lippes said, her daughters' friends ran over to check out the car.

"That was kind of fun to impress 16-year-olds, because maybe they'll consider car share," she said.

Zipcar, which got started eight years ago in Cambridge, Mass., with a dozen green Volkswagen Beetles, now has 225,000 members nationwide. Since ZipCar came to Philadelphia in March, its local membership has grown by 50 percent, according to Zipcar's COO Mark Norman.

That's despite a fee of $25 to join and annual membership of $50.

In June, the city selected Zipcar to provide car sharing for city workers.

In about 60 locations, Zipcar's 110 vehicles (20 makes and models in Philly) are placed so that most Center City residents live within a 10-minute walk of at least one Zipcar.

Unlike PhillyCarShare, Zipcar offers 180 miles included per day. Drivers often take out more than one car in a day, Norman said.

Scott McClellan, 24, of Queen Village, started driving Zipcars when the group merged with Flexcar last October.

McClellan said he enjoys driving the fleet's Subaru Impreza but has been mixing up his selections lately. He ditched his personal car a few weeks ago and takes out a Zipcar often.

"I actually like it," he said. "I don't really need [my car] because I work in the city. It's a money saver, and most of the time they're available."

Zipcar's hourly rate ranges from $6 to $10 based on the make of car. Like PhillyCarShare, Zipcar offers free parking in its designated spaces.

Norman said the major benefits to drivers considering selling their cars and switching to car sharing are overall savings and convenience.

"A lot of people tell us they love the idea of being able to date a car type as opposed to marrying one," Norman said. *