Comments on: What if Kingston… http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/ News, Politics, Events, Music, Art, Theatre, Restaurants, Sports, Environment, Everything and Anything in Kingston, Ontario. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:01:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Billie http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-8568 Billie Fri, 20 May 2011 14:29:00 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-8568 I'd be very interested. Getting rid of my vehicle at the end of the month.... and trying a bike for a change. Glad to see this information... I’d be very interested. Getting rid of my vehicle at the end of the month…. and trying a bike for a change. Glad to see this information…

]]> By: mr rectifier http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3066 mr rectifier Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:39:12 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3066 Its not aimed at regular car users, its aimed at people who generally are traveling without car but would like to use one on occasion. Eg I think nothing of walking the 8km each way to walmart, but if I was buying a tv or some bags of dirt I wouldn't mind a cheap way to rent a car for an hour. If you want a car for daily use it wouldn't make any sense to rent in this manner. Kingston would seem pretty easy to have a few locations that were convenient enough for most. Its not aimed at regular car users, its aimed at people who generally are traveling without car but would like to use one on occasion. Eg I think nothing of walking the 8km each way to walmart, but if I was buying a tv or some bags of dirt I wouldn't mind a cheap way to rent a car for an hour. If you want a car for daily use it wouldn't make any sense to rent in this manner. Kingston would seem pretty easy to have a few locations that were convenient enough for most.

]]> By: Harold Hemberger http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3065 Harold Hemberger Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:47:03 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3065 I did look at Zip. It looks ideal for the occasional short trip ( a few hrs) that does not have time constraints. Murphy's Law - The chance of the vehicle being returned late is proportionate to the urgency of you needing to borrow a vehicle. May not be ideal for the frequent user. As for other rental companies, you must return car with the same amount that reads on the fuel guage. They will try and push insurance. However, if you do have car insurance it may cover rental vehicles. I did look at Zip. It looks ideal for the occasional short trip ( a few hrs) that does not have time constraints. Murphy's Law – The chance of the vehicle being returned late is proportionate to the urgency of you needing to borrow a vehicle. May not be ideal for the frequent user. As for other rental companies, you must return car with the same amount that reads on the fuel guage. They will try and push insurance. However, if you do have car insurance it may cover rental vehicles.

]]> By: Harvey Kirkpatrick http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3061 Harvey Kirkpatrick Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:41:06 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3061 Sure, the convenience of any given pick up location could arguably be contested, but generally speaking they are spread out and well thought out. I am not certain if Zip Car offers delivery of the vehicle to the user. As mentioned they employ the reserve and pickup model. As for <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/toronto/check-rates" rel="nofollow">their rates</a>, it costs $30 to join, $55/annual fee, and then hourly rates of $8 (Mon-Thurs), $11.25 (Fri-Sun), or daily rates of $73 (Mon-Thurs), $88 (Fri-Sun). Those rates include gas and insurance, however there are other rates available through a variety of plans. <a href="http://www.vrtucar.com/great-rates.php" rel="nofollow">VirtuCar</a> in Ottawa has similar rates, but employs flat monthly billing. As for traditional rental companies, Enterprise was the only one I could find, and they offer a $35/day rate. Doubtful that includes gas or insurance though. Sure, the convenience of any given pick up location could arguably be contested, but generally speaking they are spread out and well thought out. I am not certain if Zip Car offers delivery of the vehicle to the user. As mentioned they employ the reserve and pickup model. As for their rates, it costs $30 to join, $55/annual fee, and then hourly rates of $8 (Mon-Thurs), $11.25 (Fri-Sun), or daily rates of $73 (Mon-Thurs), $88 (Fri-Sun). Those rates include gas and insurance, however there are other rates available through a variety of plans. VirtuCar in Ottawa has similar rates, but employs flat monthly billing.

As for traditional rental companies, Enterprise was the only one I could find, and they offer a $35/day rate. Doubtful that includes gas or insurance though.

]]> By: Harold Hemberger http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3060 Harold Hemberger Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:45:34 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3060 convenient locations - what do you mean b that. What is a convenient location to one person may not be a convenient location to another person. Some rental companies will drop of a car for you and then pick it up. How would the rates compare to lets say Avis, Hertz , etc convenient locations – what do you mean b that. What is a convenient location to one person may not be a convenient location to another person. Some rental companies will drop of a car for you and then pick it up.
How would the rates compare to lets say Avis, Hertz , etc

]]> By: Harvey Kirkpatrick http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3057 Harvey Kirkpatrick Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:16:05 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3057 This is a very timely comment on an old post. After visiting the Market today I noticed a Zip car while crossing the road. Was it a trial run, or simply a Zip Car making a trip outside of the GTA? Exciting nevertheless! This is a very timely comment on an old post. After visiting the Market today I noticed a Zip car while crossing the road. Was it a trial run, or simply a Zip Car making a trip outside of the GTA? Exciting nevertheless!

]]> By: 4jeg http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-3055 4jeg Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:51:54 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-3055 I completely agree. A while back, I wrote to ZipCar asking if they'd consider this if there was interest. They told me to fill out this part of their site: <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/notify-me" rel="nofollow">http://www.zipcar.com/notify-me</a> to gauge this interest. They said it only takes about 20-25 potential members to convince them to put in a new location. I completely agree. A while back, I wrote to ZipCar asking if they'd consider this if there was interest. They told me to fill out this part of their site: http://www.zipcar.com/notify-me to gauge this interest. They said it only takes about 20-25 potential members to convince them to put in a new location.

]]> By: Harvey Kirkpatrick http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-2071 Harvey Kirkpatrick Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:54:12 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-2071 For AutoShare and VirtuCar, the minimum age to join is 23, so ZipCar's age restriction of 21 is actually the best of the big three. The age restriction is likely determined by each respective service's insurance policy. If you take a look at the fine print, there are further limitations. For <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/how/faqs/one-faq?faq_number=1>ZipCar</a> you must: "have had no more than two "incidents" (moving violations PLUS accidents) in the past three years and no more than one incident in the past 18 months." They can't be faulted for that sort of caveat. Ultimately they want to keep insurance costs down, and ensure that their vehicles aren't being driven/wrecked by bad drivers. For AutoShare and VirtuCar, the minimum age to join is 23, so ZipCar's age restriction of 21 is actually the best of the big three. The age restriction is likely determined by each respective service's insurance policy. If you take a look at the fine print, there are further limitations. For <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/how/faqs/one-faq?faq_number=1>ZipCar you must: "have had no more than two "incidents" (moving violations PLUS accidents) in the past three years and no more than one incident in the past 18 months."

They can't be faulted for that sort of caveat. Ultimately they want to keep insurance costs down, and ensure that their vehicles aren't being driven/wrecked by bad drivers.

]]> By: rtq http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-2068 rtq Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:11:23 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-2068 Great idea! Especially in a city as riddled with students as we are. Seems there is an age restriction of 21+ though for zip car. When I lived in Toronto, the most zip cars I've seen in a parking lot was at Ikea :) Great idea! Especially in a city as riddled with students as we are. Seems there is an age restriction of 21+ though for zip car.

When I lived in Toronto, the most zip cars I've seen in a parking lot was at Ikea :)

]]> By: Duke Smythe http://www.kingstonist.com/2010/01/14/car-sharing-service-in-kingston/comment-page-1/#comment-2067 Duke Smythe Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:47:00 +0000 http://www.kingstonist.com/?p=3963#comment-2067 I've read that traditional car rental companies such as Hertz have adopted their own special version of "car sharing", however the big difference is that they don't have convenient locations for you to pick up and drop off a vehicle. Call it what you will, but theirs isn't car sharing. ZipCar etc... have been in Toronto and other Canadian cities for some time now, so there is a market for this sort of thing. If they did move to Kingston, I think it would be great to see locations near the Universities, College, downtown, and shopping centres as a start. I can't tell you the number of time I would have preferred to drive myself rather than rely on Kingston's less than fantastic taxi services. I've read that traditional car rental companies such as Hertz have adopted their own special version of "car sharing", however the big difference is that they don't have convenient locations for you to pick up and drop off a vehicle. Call it what you will, but theirs isn't car sharing. ZipCar etc… have been in Toronto and other Canadian cities for some time now, so there is a market for this sort of thing. If they did move to Kingston, I think it would be great to see locations near the Universities, College, downtown, and shopping centres as a start. I can't tell you the number of time I would have preferred to drive myself rather than rely on Kingston's less than fantastic taxi services.

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