Is Carshare Merger a Sign of Progress?

I suppose one can look at the merger of Flexcar and Zipcar into one company as a sign of progress and the success of carsharing. But I sure liked the fact that in the D.C. area we had two companies to choose from. We were spoiled. But the times, they are a changin.

We learned of the merger in Wednesday morning's Washington Post (Zipcar and Flexcar Driven Together, October 31, 2007; Thomas Heath) and subsequent emails and press releases from Flex and Zip distributed to their customers the same day.

The companies, who will merge under the name Zipcar with their corporate headquarters residing in Zipcar's home of Boston (Flexcar was born and based in Seattle), said "The merger will be a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts." According to the press release, members in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. - the only two cities where the companies have gone head to head - will have the advantage of "access to a larger fleet of cars." Let's hope it's true. If the companies here won't be getting rid of cars, that could indeed be good news. We'll likely have to wait and see how things fall out.

One thing is for sure. Carsharing is alive and well in our region, especially in Arlington and parts of Washington, D.C. where the local governments are giving it support. Arlington Carshare is up to 101 Flex and Zip cars stationed at our bright orange carsharing poles. Our March 2006 Carshare Study told us that 5% of Arlington residents in our Metrorail corridors were carshare members and that carsharing had allowed them to reduce their vehicle ownership rates and miles of travel while increasing transit use and walking. The net effect being a decrease in the need for parking in these areas and an increase in the quality of life. The Council of Governments is about to conduct a regional carsharing study as a follow-up to the 2006 Arlington report and should be reporting back on the results in a few months. I'm sure it will show even more progress.

Let's wish the folks at the newly combined Zipcar much luck and success with their merger. They've certainly added a lot to our transportation mix and our community.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and The TDM Professional blog and a biking/Metrorail commuter from Alexandria, Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C.