Thursday, November 30, 2006

WP: Zip Car/Flexcar

The post reports on the two car sharing services and how they fit into life in DC. Could Flexcar
and Zip Car be part of the answer to DC's parking woes (and avoiding parking problems on/near H Street)?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Both companies are guilty of paying private owners rent for "parking spaces" that lie on public property a) the private owners don't own b) where parking is illegal. (Case in point: the Flexcar at 6th/Maryland NE.)

When this is brought to their attention, the companies openly declare that they don't give a rat's ass.

Sorry, these aren't the kinds of outfits I care to enrich.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous is incorrect. Both Flexcar and Zipcar have arranged with DDOT to designate certain existing parking spaces for carsharing vehicles. Separately, both companies pay the owners of private property to use private space to park their cars.

At the very least, one carsharing car, which is available to any person who takes the time to sign up, has a greater entitlement to a public parking space than any car that is available only for the owner's use.

For example, the Flexcar at 12th and H has effectively freed up at least 3 public parking spaces in that block, and probably more. It gets heavy use from lots of people who leave near it. Plus, it's enabled some low income residents in the immediate area to increase their mobility and transportation options.

Anonymous, what has your car done for the public lately?

Anonymous said...

Three parking spaces huh? Really??? Prove it. This is one of the made up facts. These companies should pay the equivalent fee that the Argonaut has to pay for their patio... or even the resident has to pay for tags and the zone sticker. Many of these cars don't even have DC tags.

Rich umplies thatjust anyone can sign up. No mention of the $50 fee.

An example of the DDOT's stupid logic is at North Carolina and 6th SE. The Flex car is allowed to park free in a rush hour no parking 4-6:30pm zone. Any fool putting money in the adjacent meter will get $100 ticket.

Not Rich

Anonymous said...

I live in DC, pay taxes for PUBLIC PARKING, and apparently, I pay for road maintenance, police protection, etc.

I don't think it's fair that I pay taxes and can't find parking because someone pays a fee to a conglomerate to run around town.

There are plenty of bus lines and taxis that folks can use to support our city. Or, come up with a community based car sharing thing.

If you are really socially conscious, stop paying the big boys.

Unless you are one of them, and hate to admit it. I bet that the flex car folks are probably bubble world vegans that actually think they're helping the city/environment. Get a life.

Most folks I know that use this service have the money to buy three cars and park them in their backyard. Get a life.

It's about convenience and the disposable income that you are fortunate to have.

If zipcars can buy a spot, why can't we, as a caring community buy a 'carshare' a spot?

Trust me, this is not a phenomenal communal/environmental/traffic alternative, it's a corporate alternative.

If you can't see that, I have to say that you really need to go back to school and finish your high school degree.

Zipcar folks will be back in their hometowns in Wisconsin in the next three years.

The rest of us will figure out the real future of DC.

God, what a waste of time for me to respond to folks with only half of a brain........

inked said...

I've never used either service (and I don't have a car), but I do know people that do use them sometimes (people that have lived in DC for while, and that probably aren't moving anytime soon). There are certain items you can't take in a taxi (the drivers will balk), but that you can stick in a Zip Car/Flexcar. Yes, both companies are corporate entities, but I don't understand how having these two around can be such a bad thing. I do understand the objection about such services getting special treatment for spaces (though I can't speak to the extent that goes on, because I don't know the actual numbers). If the people using these cars bought, or even rented cars, wouldn't that actually make it a lot harder to find a parking space?

Anonymous said...

Rich Luna misses the point. In comment #1, I'm not talking about curbside spaces. I'm talking about the land between the sidewalk and the private property line (typically at the plane of your house's front door). This is "public space," not private property, and DC law makes it expressly illegal to park there.

The example I gave -- the Flexcar on 6th just north of Maryland Ave -- is illegally parked. Flexcar is also paying the owner of 600 Maryland for the privilege, even though he doesn't even own the land on which the car sits. (The city does.)

I have no beef with the concept of car sharing, or even with public policy -- properly developed through an open legislative or administrative process that offers meaningful citizen input -- that gives these kinds of companies special privileges (such as reserved curb spots). But I damn well don't care for their arrogation of public property without lawful permission.

inked said...

To the extent that this (the parking space issue menioned above) is happening, it obviously is a problem. And if complaints have been lodged, it's a problem that neither the city, nor the company (but I'd say mostly the city) hasn't responded. If such cars such companies are routinely renting illegal spaces and the city is unresponsive, it might be an opportunity to approach the City Paper, or other local media about the issue. You might also want to talk to your ANC, or council member if you believe the spaces are not legal spots. Despite the fact that I believe car sharing services (and some non-profit ones do exist, but I'm not aware of any in DC)I don't believe tat they should get a free pass to flout the law. So, if it is happening, the steps mentioned above are probably the ones to take (assuming DDOT is unresponsive). A major issue here would be that a private entity (the purported owner of the space) is getting income for an illegitimate spot).

Anonymous said...

My three neighbors and I pay taxes, but do not own personal automobiles. We use one of the two Flex- and Zip cars parked nearby. So please thank us for freeing up two extra spaces for you to park your personal vehicles. And we are not socially conscious—just smart enough not to pay huge monthly car payments to the really “big boys”—auto manufacturers and finance companies.

Anonymous said...

One of the Anonymous postings above seems to be in support of a non-corporate 'car share'. I've seen bike shares--yellow bikes in Austin, TX, and the public bikes in Copenhagen, Denmark. They're abused, destroyed or just taken for private use. The (completely legit) parking concerns aside, this is unfortunately an example of a good that, if free, is wasted. The fact that there's a fee to use the service means the "evil" corporations can cover the costs of some abusive drivers and just wear and tear. They also have the resources and insurance to give the city a guarantee that the cars won't sit in parking sites broken down and become eyesores, etc., etc., etc.

Anonymous said...

If someone claims to own a parking space and rents it to Zipcar or Flexcar, I'm not sure it's the responsibility of either company to verify the ownership. If someone else has a conflicting claim to ownership of that space (including the city), it would be up to that person to take legal action to enforce that claim.

One of the benefits of the on-street reserved parking for Zipcar and Flexcar is that DDOT requires the companies to place cars throughout the city. Thus, giving a space to Zipcar in a parking-poor neighborhood like Georgetown or Dupont Circle results in residents of another neighborhood having access to a shared car that might not otherwise have been there.