Pittsburgh Parking???

[Tiger Beer]

Thanks for the ZipCar knowledge...I've been out of the U.S. way too long. Those do sound cool...and ideal.

Not that I couldn't look it up myself, but how much do they charge to use one?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Not that I couldn't look it up myself, but how much do they charge to use one?

So they have a couple plans (which I oversimplified in my prior post). You can pay an annual fee of just $50, and then the car rentals start at $7/hour, but you will pay more depending on the type of car and location. For example, I think the minimum price for the Downtown cars is $9.25/hour, and for that you get a recent model of something like a Scion XB, Honda Civic, Mazda3, or so on. For $11.25 you can get an upscale car like a Mini Cooper or Volvo S40, or a larger vehicle like a minivan or pickup truck. And they even have a BMW 328 Downtown for $13.25. Just over by Duquesne, they also have a Prius and a Civic for $7.25, and they have $7/hour Priuses and Civic Hybrids out farther in the East End.

Anyway, that is the basic plan. Then you can also drop the annual fee if you maintain a minimum charge of $50 a month, in which case you will also get 10% off the hourly fees. If you work out the math you are talking like 6 or so hours a month to make $50 (assuming you are using the $9.25 cars mostly--you'd need more like 8 hours if you are using the $7 cars). If you commit to $75 or $125 a month, you get to rollover your minimum for 1 or 2 months respectively, and for $250 a month you also get a 15% instead of 10% discount.

A few other random comments about Zipcar:

(1) So they are quite aware their model works best where there is good public transit at least for commuting purposes, because it really doesn't make sense to use them for commuting. Conversely, they have the potential to make public transit more economically viable because if people have to buy a car for occasional use, they will then tend to use it for everyday purposes, and Zipcar can free them from having to buy a car for occasional use. In that sense, Zipcar and public transit are complementary products, and you could actually see public transit, at least for commuting purposes, building out more if Zipcar really takes off.

(2) They are potentially a very environmentally friendly company for a variety of reasons. Being complementary with public transit is one such reason, but in general they also spread out the construction cost of a car--which is a big part of the lifecycle environmental impact of cars--over more people/miles. Their model also allows them to more quickly adopt new technology since they more rapidly put miles on their cars. So, for example, they were earlier purchasers of hybrids, and if plug-ins make it to market and they can install charging points in their parking locations, they will likely be early purchasers of plug-ins as well.

(3) Carsharing has something called "network efficiencies": the more people who use the same carsharing service, the more cars/locations it has, and the better service it provides for each individual customer. Industries with a lot of network efficiencies have a tendency toward "natural monopolies": it can make economic sense for one network to become dominant. Of course monopolies are problematic, so often natural monopolies end up being regulated (like utilities), and in fact some cities originally tried to set up municipal carsharing services. The problem is that cities might not have enough scale, and you really might need a national or international network, in which case regulation becomes implausible. Right now, though, this isn't such a problem because Zipcar is still only scratching the surface of its potential and has every incentive to grow as rapidly as possible. But down the line, if Zipcar expands to the point it is starting to run out of prime growth opportunities, I suspect you will see a lot more antitrust talk involving Zipcar and carsharing in general.

(4) Carsharing is, of course, an old idea: rental car companies and taxi cab companies are actually variants on carsharing. What really makes Zipcar new is just the wireless technology, which allows them to rent out cars remotely. That cuts their labor costs (no rental desks or taxi drivers needed), and allows them to locate their cars much more conveniently, which in turn allows shorter-term rentals. So the implications are very significant, but it really all traces back to a relatively simple application of wireless technology.

[gualm]

I would think the lease would be the best bet if you can afford it. Pittsburgh has way too many parking stipulations. I.e. times and days you can park, and some residential areas require permits, etc. There is way too much activity to park in the Strip District, I feel, to park there safely(avoid car getting damaged). So, if you can pay the $100-$150 per mo for a lease I would do that.

The optimum solution would just leave your car where it is. Pittsburgh has a very extensive transportation system and you can basically go anywhere by bus or trolley.