Duluth Car Share

Sonya Jul 15, 2010 13 Comments

Me and a friend are thinking about starting up a car share program in Duluth. Car sharing is useful for those of us who only need a car on occasion — not often enough to justify being solely responsible for the costs of owning one. In a car-sharing group, members split the cost of insurance and repairs, and they all have use of the car(s), signing it out as needed. The program is still in the very, very early stages and right now we’re trying to gauge community interest and brainstorm ideas. Interested? Join our Facebook group!

Duluth Car Share

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13 Comments

Echo

about 13 years ago 

My husband was involved in starting HourCar in the Twin Cities. He may have contacts with them still to get you more information. When HourCar was starting, they received a LOT of info and advice from several existing car share organizations nation wide. Contact me at ech[email protected] and I will pass on his contact info to you.

edgeways

about 13 years ago 

I *might* be interested if it involved a pickup truck, and know another family who may be in the same situation.

Gary

about 13 years ago 

Awesome idea!  I wonder if the Whole Foods Coop would be interested in getting on board?  That would be a nice central location for the car and it seems like it would fit well with their mission.  If it was an all-electric car you could even tie into the solar panels from the Coop to charge it.

B-man

about 13 years ago 

How about; recreational vehicles, ATV's, motorcycles, scooters, trailers, boats, kayaks and canoes? I am just wondering if these things are even being considered.

L.T.

about 13 years ago 

Another thought on location - perhaps near the Duluth Depot, to coordinate with the potential train service to/fro the Twin Cities? Assuming the Depot would be the likely locale for a depot.

Sonya

about 13 years ago 

We were tentatively thinking of having the car(s) live at a different member's house every month, but having a central location would be better if we have a lot of people on board.  I like the idea of it being at the Depot, especially if (when!) Duluth has train service to the Cities again, and I also think the DTA was talking about moving the downtown bus depot to the Depot.

B-man: right now we're just thinking about a car share, but a canoe share is a good idea too.  You could start one!

Terry G.

about 13 years ago 

I'd definitely use it if there was a vehicle I could use for hauling stuff - e.g., pickup truck.

Karasu

about 13 years ago 

I cannot even contemplate how this could work legally with insurance.

Claire

about 13 years ago 

I'd love to be able to use a pickup on occasion! I'm wondering if anyone knows about a carpool to/from Cities too. right now I take the shuttle, but I certainly do like having options. I just discovered Jefferson, which is ok for times I need to go to downtown Mpls. Maybe do something along these lines with the car share?

B-man

about 13 years ago 

Insurance is easy. One owner and one policy holder.  

The trick is getting people to continue paying the fees when they do not believe it is a good deal for them.  Everyone wants to share the car and pay for gas, but "everyone" disappears when the transmission goes out and a $900 repair bill shows up.  All of a sudden no one needs to use the car.  A Friend in NYC was part of a group that consistently had to deal with this problem.  
The one owner I referred to is the one holding the financial bag when the s**t comes down. 

Good idea but rules need to be established early.

L.T.

about 13 years ago 

Most car share business models require that members pay per use and for the gas they use. Maintenance is built into the fees.

jessige

about 13 years ago 

You may want to talk to the student association at UMD. They were investigating getting a zipcar franchise.

michael

about 13 years ago 

And have you seen the way people drive in Duluth, that car won't last one year!

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