Need a car for only an hour? Want to run errands at lunch? Have a business meeting? Spouse has the car for the day? Try carsharing.
Carsharing is the solution for those times when you need a car. It’s a lot like car rental, but more convenient. With carsharing, you can rent the car for as little as a half-hour. Cars are self-service and parked nearby. Here’s the best part: when you carshare, the price includes gas, insurance, and maintenance and you only pay for the time you use. It’s that simple.
What is carsharing?
Carsharing is similar to car rental with the main differences being you can use the carsharing vehicle for as little as a half-hour and the cars are located in the communities rather than at a central car rental location. In short, carsharing serves as a unique cross between a rental car and cab service.
Carsharing began in Switzerland in the 1980's and has expanded throughout Europe to include 450 cities. The concept is relatively new, but growing, in North America with carsharing organizations located in Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Denver, San Diego, Toronto, Boston, New York, and Washington, DC. In these cities, for-profit or non-profit organizations maintain the carsharing fleet and reservation website. To become a member of the organization and use the vehicles, you must complete an application and usually pay an annual fee and security deposit. Vehicles may be reserved either on-line or by phone. Payment is based on per hour and per mile fees.
Membership in a carsharing service includes gas, insurance, and maintenance. Membership fees vary based on the how you plan to use the service and which provider you choose.
Benefits of carsharing
According to various studies carsharing:
- reduces car ownership,
- encourages more transit trips,
- reduces the number of cars on the road,
- reduces the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT),
- reduces pollution,
- saves gas, and
- provides for a more efficient use of parking spaces.
For details see Arlington Carshare Program 2006 Report below.
Zipcar, the area's carsharing provider
 Zipcar provides on-demand, self-service cars by the hour or the day for personal and business needs. Drive hassle-free, anytime. The low hourly and daily rates include gas, insurance, maintenance and parking. Choose from over 18 car and truck models. Zipcar has about 30 great vehicles in Arlington's urban villages. Join at www.zipcar.com or call 866-4ZIPCAR.
Arlington County, a perfect fit for carsharing
 Arlington's urban villages are walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods served by Arlington's excellent public transportation system. People who live in these neighborhoods walk or bicycle to shopping, restaurants, and entertainment, and hop on Metrorail, Metrobus or ART when they need to get around. Arlington County’s unique urban village character provides a perfect match for carsharing services.
According to a 1999 study by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, carsharing operates best in an area that provides these land use conditions:
- Offers a variety of travel choices including public transit, ridesharing, cycling and walking.
- Has high density, multi-modal, mixed-use neighborhoods and flexible parking requirements.
- Rents or sells residential parking separately from housing.
- Establishes transportation demand management (TDM) agencies to encourage employers and employees to develop and use alternative modes of transportation (here in Arlington that’s Arlington County Commuter Services).
- Integrates carsharing with other mobility services such as public transit, taxis and ridesharing.
Sounds like the conditions here in Arlington are perfect for carsharing. In fact, with so many transportation options, including carsharing, some Arlington residents have realized that they really don't need the expense of owning a car. Could you go car-free or car-lite? Visit Arlington's Car-Free Diet to learn more.
Zipcar has more than 50 cars at 32 locations throughout Arlington. For specific locations visit the Zipcar web site.
On-street visibility
Most carshare vehicles throughout the Metropolitan D.C. region and in Arlington, prior to March 2004, were located in private parking lots and garages. Arlington has designated 38 on-street metered parking spaces in the R-B Corridor, Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Shirlington for the carsharing vehicles. The two Columbia Pike locations did not have meters. Flexcar and Zipcar retrofitted all of these spaces to include the following elements:
 Highly visible, orange signposts with holders for postcards and an 11” x 14” insert sign with information on carsharing are placed at each of the parking spaces to designate it as an official carshare parking space.
- Standard “No Parking” and standard towing signs are affixed to the poles. Additional “Towing Enforced” signs that includes “If your car is towed, please call 703-558-2222” (police non-emergency number) are also added to each pole.
- Stencils on the pavement are added to the parking spaces indicating “No Parking Except Flexcar” or “No Parking Except Zipcar.”
Parking
Don't Park Here - Unless you are in a Zipcar or Flexcar. Each of the spaces is designated for a specific Flexcar or Zipcar. Other vehicles are warned not to park in these spaces. Standard "No Parking" and towing graphics are affixed to the poles. A "Towing Enforced" sign that includes "If your car is towed, please call 703-558-2222" (police non-emergency number) is also affixed to each pole. In addition, stencils are painted on the ground indicating "No Parking Except Flexcar" or "No Parking Except Zipcar." Don't make the mistake of parking in these spaces as Arlington County Parking Enforcement will enforce these rules as indicated on the signage.
Arlington Carshare Program 2006 Report
 Arlington Carshare Program a Success as Documented in Newly Released Report
The Arlington Carshare Program 2006 Report provides a summary of the program and provides a second-year evaluation of the Carshare Program based on member surveys conducted by Arlington in March 2005 and 2006.
The report findings include the following:
- Carsharing membership has increased by over 37% in the past year for a total of nearly 3,500 individuals.
- Five percent (5%) of Arlington residents living in the Metrorail corridors are Flexcar or Zipcar members.
- Carsharing has allowed members to reduce their vehicle ownership rates and overall vehicle-miles traveled while increasing transit use and walking. Members also have generally been able to postpone buying a vehicle.
- The Report concludes that the Arlington Carshare Program complements the walk/bike/transit-friendly lifestyle available in Arlington’s urban villages.
The entire 2006 Report updating Arlington’s efforts at carsharing is available in PDF format: Arlington Carshare Program 2006 Report
Arlington Pilot Carshare Program First-Year Report
In March 2004, the Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS) unit of the Department of Environmental Services partnered with the two carshare companies – Flexcar and Zipcar – to provide expanded carshare services and promotions called the Arlington Pilot Carshare Program.The overall goals of the Program were the following:
- To dramatically raise vehicle availability and visibility of carsharing in Arlington, thereby increasing membership and use.
- To provide safe, convenient pickup/dropoff locations at all metro stations in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, essentially making carsharing an extension of the existing transportation infrastructure.
- To validate carsharing as a viable alternative to car ownership through a high profile partnership with the county.
 The Arlington Pilot Carshare Program was an overwhelming success and has increased carshare membership in Arlington by 116%, to over 2,500 carshare members. The Pilot Carshare Program survey results corroborated with ample evidence from leading North American and European studies to show that carsharing allows members to reduce their car ownership, encourages more transit trips, reduces the number of cars on the road and reduces the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT).Carsharing services provide an important component of an integrated, mobility-management system that complements Arlington transit-oriented, walkable, urban-village concepts and helps ACCS meet its program goals.
The entire report documenting Arlington’s efforts at carsharing is available in PDF format: Arlington Pilot Carshare Program First-Year Report (PDF, 1.6 MB)
Carsharing links
2008 National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board Commuter Connections Carshare Survey – Results of the regional Carshare Survey conducted for the Commuter Connections program administered by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). From the Transportation Demand Management Research Center.
The Carsharing Network – Information and news about carsharing in North America.
Carsharing US – Information, issues and ideas for U.S. and North American carsharing services and partners.
U.S. City Sites
Alexandria, VA www.alexride.org/carsharing.html
Aspen, CO www.roaringforkvehicles.com
Boulder, CO www.carshare.org
San Francisco, CA – City Carshare www.citycarshare.org
Canada
Carsharing Canada www.carsharing.ca
CATCO (Calgary Alternative Transportation Cooperative) www.catco-op.org
Carsharing Co-op of Edmonton www.carshareedmonton.ca
Toronto, ON – Autoshare www.autoshare.com
Vancouver, BC – Co-operative Auto Network www.cooperativeauto.net
International
European CarSharing www.carsharing.org
Germany – CarSharing in Germany – www.carsharing.de/#
Singapore – Car Co-op – www.carcoop.com.sg
United Kingdom – Carplus– The Car Club Network www.carclubs.org.uk
World Carshare Consortium http://ecoplan.org/carshare/cs_index.htm
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