Downtown Austin has had these special (by paint job) Smart Cars parked in various places for the last couple years. I had a pretty good idea what they were about but I never had much of an incentive to bother…we used to have two cars.
With the Golf’s sale (good riddance after its latest failure this Spring), there have been a few times when Somara and I have had restricted options regarding transportation. Fortunately, they’re not as serious nor as often as I feared once my jalopy headed for Mexico, where it was born. Other than insurance, we have saved some significant amounts of money being a one-car household. We will be a two-car household in a couple years because it’s probably the law somewhere in Texas, especially in light of the irrational fear of Soviet-style Communism sweeping Americans over age 50 and/or IQ under 90. It will probably be another Fit, a Yaris (Toyota is redesigning it) or should things really go our way, an Insight. Honda did announce the electric-powered Fit for next year in a few states. I think the $30K-plus price tag and less than 150-mile range puts it out beyond our budget unless we win the lottery.
Meanwhile, Jeremy told me how sweet Car2Go has been for him. He usually takes Austin’s new light rail downtown to work every weekday yet there have been a couple occasions when he needed his car. This alternative is better. For a mere 35 cents per minute he can cruise around inner Austin, perform an errand and go back to work without having to bring his car in, adding to the congestion on I-35 and MoPac.
I thought this would be perfect for me, especially when the Car2Go people offered 100 free minutes in a recent AusChron ad. Through their Web site, I can find a car near work, reserve it, bum a lift to it (the closest one is sometimes near Parmer and Metric) and head in for a show. With the Golf’s sale my Stubb’s volunteer work really suffered. It’s not the concerts I missed, it was seeing all those nice people and helping out with the clean up after the crowds leave. Next Spring I hope this will remedy it.
So the special entry card arrived in the mail and I hope to break it in soon!
More as it happens. I think it’ll be pretty cool and it’s cheaper than traditional rental cars which I had to experience again recently.