Four vehicles are ready to join Boulder CarShare's fleet, but without drivers prepared to take them to the grocery store, Laundromat or hiking trail, the cars will remain on the waiting list. And it's feasible to place a car in a neighborhood only if enough people sign up to use the vehicle, he said. Car sharing is a system of shared car ownership and access, in which people have access to a fleet of vehicles for short-term use.
Members pay dues and user fees, and the organization pays insurance, gas and maintenance costs.
Boulder CarShare, started informally in 1997, is at a turning point in its existence. But the people behind one of the nation's first car-sharing organizations vow not to let the idea die. Boulder CarShare has a new telephone reservation system for members to reserve cars, two cars ready for users in Boulder and insurance for each car. Group founders have also worked out a system for people who want to loan their car for sharing. He had purchased the car when he lived in Washington, D.C., and drove 11,000 miles a year.