I have an insured of mine that is starting one of these businesses and I’ve been trying to place the insurance for 4 months now and no takers. Where was insurance placed?
While this is a clever idea to off-set the cost of car ownership, it will not reduce carbon emissions or traffic congestion. On the contrary, it actually adds to the pollution and congestion problems. While my car is sitting idle in the parking lot it is not emitting pollution or causing congestion on the highways. However, if I rent my car while I’m not using it, it is then emitting pollution and contributing to traffic congestion, which it wasn’t doing while it was sitting idle in the parking lot.
You can promote this idea as a way to reduce the cost of car ownership, but you can’t really claim it is reducing pollution and traffic congestion.
However, I could reduce pollution and traffic congestion by renting out my bicycle when I’m not using it.
Insurance for carsharing has been a problem from the start in the US – in 1998 when my company, CarSharing Portland, was only able to obtain insurance by being treated like a variation of a vanpool – so the premise of the article that their needs to be innovation in the insurance industry is certainly true.
RelayRides is now nationwide and Getaround operates in Texas, so they operate in states without the legal definition of carsharing passed in California, Oregon and more recently in Washington state. While the legal definition is certainly helpful for both the companies and for consumers, it does not appear to be restraining business.
Gary says that P2P carsharing will not reduce carbon emissions or traffic congestion. It has been well documented that Zipcar, City Carshare and other traditional carsharing services have significant environmental benefits – each carsharing vehicle has been shown to replace between 9-12 privately-owned vehicles; that VMT of carsharing members is lower and they use transit, cycling and walking more. A major research project has just been started in Portland Oregon to evaluate whether similar benefits apply to P2P carsharing, not only the drivers but whether vehicle owners shift their transportation habits because they’re renting out their vehicles.
I have an insured of mine that is starting one of these businesses and I’ve been trying to place the insurance for 4 months now and no takers. Where was insurance placed?
While this is a clever idea to off-set the cost of car ownership, it will not reduce carbon emissions or traffic congestion. On the contrary, it actually adds to the pollution and congestion problems. While my car is sitting idle in the parking lot it is not emitting pollution or causing congestion on the highways. However, if I rent my car while I’m not using it, it is then emitting pollution and contributing to traffic congestion, which it wasn’t doing while it was sitting idle in the parking lot.
You can promote this idea as a way to reduce the cost of car ownership, but you can’t really claim it is reducing pollution and traffic congestion.
However, I could reduce pollution and traffic congestion by renting out my bicycle when I’m not using it.
Insurance for carsharing has been a problem from the start in the US – in 1998 when my company, CarSharing Portland, was only able to obtain insurance by being treated like a variation of a vanpool – so the premise of the article that their needs to be innovation in the insurance industry is certainly true.
RelayRides is now nationwide and Getaround operates in Texas, so they operate in states without the legal definition of carsharing passed in California, Oregon and more recently in Washington state. While the legal definition is certainly helpful for both the companies and for consumers, it does not appear to be restraining business.
Gary says that P2P carsharing will not reduce carbon emissions or traffic congestion. It has been well documented that Zipcar, City Carshare and other traditional carsharing services have significant environmental benefits – each carsharing vehicle has been shown to replace between 9-12 privately-owned vehicles; that VMT of carsharing members is lower and they use transit, cycling and walking more. A major research project has just been started in Portland Oregon to evaluate whether similar benefits apply to P2P carsharing, not only the drivers but whether vehicle owners shift their transportation habits because they’re renting out their vehicles.