CarShare Vermont Arrives

Yet another exciting nonprofit is coming to life in the Burlington area. CarShare Vermont, a fledgling Vermont nonprofit, announced today that it has acquired a fleet of 8 vehicles to launch its car sharing service on December 8. This is particularly exciting for me because I have been sharing a car with our 17-year-old son Rob (and now our 16-year-old son Brad, too) since February 2007. When Rob got his driver's license I wanted to give him a car so I could turn in my chauffeur cap for good and get back to uninterrupted days at the office even though the kids still have to get to sports and other after-school activities. But I just can't justify buying a third car for our family. According to AAA, it costs about $7,000 a year to own, maintain and operate a car - and I just don't want to be a three-car family. We live right in town, near a bus line, on the bike path, and only a 30 minute walk to my office. We used to live out in the country and we loved it, with four acres and a huge garden, horses and chickens and everything else that goes along with country living. But my husband Chris is a public transportation professional (and a founding board member of CarShare Vermont), and it always felt wrong for each of us to commute 34 miles round-trip five days a week in two separate cars (carpooling to Burlington was impossible with our work schedules and the kids' school and sports schedules). So four years ago we decided to get practical and try the urban homesteading lifestyle instead. We moved right into town and we love it. When gas prices rose to $4.00/gallon this year, we felt very smart. The boys drive my car where they need to go on school/work days, and I drive my scooter, take the bus, walk and bike when they need the car. And I don't do this as a favor to the boys - I do this entirely for myself, to save money, to reduce my carbon footprint, to get in more hours at my office, and to regain my independence after years of driving the kids around. On the weekends, I take first dibs on the car and the boys use the car when I don't need it. It's a great arrangement, it's frugal, and it feels good. So for me, CarShare Vermont will be a wonderful service.   The mission of CarShare Vermontis "to provide an affordable, convenient, and reliable alternative to private car ownership that enhances the environmental, economic, and social wellbeing of our region and planet."  This is exactly what I have been trying to do with my own familhy's car-sharing arrangement.  So now if I need a car to drive to a business meeting or for an errand that just can't be accomplished without a car, I can turn to a CarShare car. CarShare Vermont is just one more reason why we don't need to buy a third car for our four-driver family - and one more reason why Burlington is such a great place to live.  Nonprofit car-sharing services exist in larger cities like Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia.  Burlington is joining Ithaca, New York as a small city with a nonprofit car-sharing service.  We can thank the founding Executive Director, Annie Bourdon, who worked at the nonprofit car-share organization in San Francisco, earrned a masters degree in Public Aministration from the University of Vermont, and had the vision, experience and expertise to bring nonprofit car-sharing to Burlington.  Yet another visionary entrepreneurial nonprofit executive in Vermont!  I wish CarShare Vermont the best of success. 

Comments

[slowbos]

thanks a lot dear, im very interesting for your article. im very impresing for this :)

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