CityWheels: Share a Car to Contribute to Our Community
By Megan Wilson
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You might be amazed to learn that four musicians, one drum kit, one bass amp, one bass and one trombone can fit into a Toyota Prius. The secret is to put stuff on top of the spare tire.
– Andy Barnett, jazz musician and CityWheels driver
This spring, Cleveland's communities celebrated the launch of a new service that makes it possible for urban residents to have access to an automobile to transport themselves – or their stuff – without the need to own and maintain their own cars. CityWheels is a Cleveland-based small business modeled after carsharing programs that have been successful in San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit and Madison, Wisconsin. Currently serving three neighborhoods in Northeast Ohio, CityWheels provides financial, environmental and traffic-congestion relief, as well as other community benefits.
Most communities contain populations of residents who want to reduce their driving. While these individuals do not drive their cars every day, they will not sell them either because they need transportation for occasional important trips or for family members. For these people, carsharing saves a family thousands of dollars on car loans, insurance, repairs, gas and all of the other associated costs of owning, maintaining and operating a car. It also saves the general hassle and miscellaneous other responsibilities. According to the American Automobile Association, the cost of owning a newer car is approximately $6,000 a year, even if it is never driven. In addition, car owners tend to drive the cars in order to get their money's worth because the car loan and insurance payments remain constant.
The average North American car is driven just 66 minutes per day; yet the average family in Northeast Ohio spends more than 20 percent of its household income on transportation. Most city cars sit idle 22 or more hours per day, costing money and taking up parking space. And many city dwellers choose to move to the suburbs to get away from high insurance costs and worries about theft and vandalism in the city, even if they really liked city life and wanted to stay.
On an environmental level, the argument for carsharing is significant. Vehicles owned by people who rarely drive tend to be older and poorly maintained. Getting these cars off the road removes a source of pollution from Cleveland's air supply. In addition, carshare programs such as CityWheels utilize community vehicles that are newer, fuel-efficient, well-maintained and less-polluting to serve a wider population.
Studies have shown that carsharing can drastically reduce the number of privately owned vehicles on the road. Conservative estimates suggest that seven to 10 vehicles are retired for every shared vehicle introduced into an area. Approximately 15 percent of carshare users give up a car when they join the carshare, while 25 percent refrain from purchasing a vehicle by joining.
Carsharing also increases other forms of travel. A study by the University of California showed that 25 percent of carshare members began using bicycles or rollerblades as transit options after joining the carshare. The same study also demonstrated that mass-transit patronage increased 18 percent on average. This is a positive and hopeful number for Cleveland where the public transit system has suffered for years from low-ridership numbers. In addition, the implementation of CityWheels and the increased use of public and alternative transportation at growing institutions such as University Circle and Oberlin College helps reduce parking demand. Property and resources can be put to more productive uses, possibly creating jobs and opportunity rather than parking decks.
With an eye toward providing a service for Cleveland residents, Ryan McKenzie, EcoCity Cleveland's transportation coordinator and CityWheels' president, spent years studying the various carsharing programs around the country. His goal is to improve Clevelanders' mobility while reducing the city's air pollution, traffic congestion and parking problems. CityWheels is the fruit of those efforts, a small business with its roots in environmental consciousness and community-based planning and organization.
CityWheels' service was launched early this spring with a fleet of four vehicles which are parked in neighborhoods near their users. Two cars serve the Oberlin College campus; one operates in the Coventry neighborhood of Cleveland Heights and one is in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland. CityWheels members have 24-hour access to the entire CityWheels fleet, which can be reserved by the hour or by the day using an online reservations system. The hourly rate for CityWheels' vehicles includes all the costs of the vehicle – including insurance and gasoline – making carsharing an effective and economical choice for people on a limited budget who do not have to drive every day but occasionally need a car for meetings, errands or outings.
CityWheels' main office is located in Cleveland's near West Side in the Cleveland Environmental Center, home of many organizations and businesses working to improve the relationship of Northeast Ohioans to their bioregion. The startup of CityWheels has been supported by many organizations and institutions, including the Cleveland Foundation's Civic Innovations Lab, the City of Cleveland's Economic Development Fund and EcoCity Cleveland. Environmental and community-planning organizations are watching CityWheels carefully to gauge the long-term effects of carsharing on the entire Northeast Ohio region.
In downtown Cleveland with its older neighborhoods, CityWheels adds a unique service with big savings that cannot be found in sprawling suburban locations. Carsharing gives people another reason to consider living and working in Cleveland and its closest suburbs, as well as making it easier for them to stay once they are here. Carsharing encourages people to drive less so that they can spend their money to support their neighborhood businesses.
However, CityWheels members are discovering that carsharing is not just a practical and economical service – it is also a lot of fun. Whether they are saving gasoline in the Toyota Prius with its hybrid engine and dashboard touch-screen computer or traveling with their iPod plugged into the boxy Scion xB, CityWheels members are enjoying the opportunity to get around in style without breaking the bank.
“I had a guy jump around and wave at me when he saw I was driving a CityWheels car,” Miriam Ignatoff exclaims. This experience is shared by many CityWheels members who find that the cars – and the service they offer – are already recognizable and exciting for many people in the community. With much enthusiasm, CityWheels has launched and continues to grow. Stay tuned – great things are rolling in Northeast Ohio.
More information about CityWheels may be found online at www.MyCityWheels.com or by calling (216) 961-5020, ext. 209.
