Car2Go

A few months back, by the taco truck I frequent, a white and blue Smart car started showing up with some folks giving out information. It was for something called Car2Go.Curious.I started doing a bit of research on this thing and it's a different take on car sharing. Most of you have heard of Zip Car -- this is cut from the same cloth.Where Zip Car has cars living in certain parking spots, Car2Go takes the probabilistic approach to the problem. You can park a Car2Go anyplace that's legal and not a private parking lot. And just leave it there for the next person to pick up. All you do is pay for the time you're in the car -- $0.38 a minute + tax. (Hourly it's $13.99, daily: $72.99)A month or so ago they were running a promotion where it's free to join and they give you 30 free minutes. Ennie signed up too.The first time either of us used it was when En was down in Fremont after work for something or other and she was pondering how to get home. A bus would've taken an hour -- and of course she didn't have her car with her because she bussed it downtown. I reminded her about the Car2Go option and in a 15 minute drive she was home.Yesterday I was at work late. I didn't fee like taking the bus and I wanted to try this thing out. Other than the nav system which didn't know that a certain road was one-way (yes, I was aware of the fact and didn't force the issue) it went swimingly!  Sure, the car is small... but it handles well and it's a bit of instant transportation when you need it.I approve.

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A bit more digging on the topic will lead you to Daimler. You know, Mercedes. It's the same company that makes the Smart cars that make up the fleet. Daimler is also the owner of Car2Go.It's a cool model. Take small, cheap cars and have micro-renting of them throughout the city. The coolest thing is that Seattle is embracing this! We're the fastest growing market for the entire network!