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Business Wire wroteFlexcar Brings Car-Sharing to The Ohio State University
Launches the Nation’s Largest Campus Car-Sharing Program at Nation’s Largest University; Opens 13th U.S. Market
Wednesday August 8
Flexcar (www.flexcar.com) achieves two major milestones as it rolls out a total of 20 total environmentally friendly vehicles on the campus of The Ohio State University this week: the launch of the largest campus car-sharing program at the largest university in the country; and the opening of its 13th U.S. city – the most of any car-sharing company. Beginning today, vehicles are available to University faculty, staff and students as well as Columbus residents for hourly use. A simple fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, parking and 24-7 emergency service.
Well, Flexcar is not going to compare favorably with walking.
:)
:)
In all fairness, the one thing I couldn’t think of that was really walkable on campus was groceries. Haven’t been there in a LONG time though. I just think the idea of college kids renting a car to go to Easton for a couple hours spells disaster…both for drunk driving and for parents’ credit cards.
I mean, they have a shuttle running to the Arena District now, they have a shuttle running to the Lennox now, the busses actually on High you can catch about every 6 or 8 minutes and get where you want, and almost everything else is walkable.
Sunflower Market is open in the Gateway. Outside of that, there’s UDF or CVS filling the grocery gap, or a very short bus ride north to the Giant Eagle or south to the Kroger.
I always thought it was funny in college when other kids would grocery shop like a suburban house wife. Essentially they would go to the store and fill up a grocery cart and throw it al into a car. Then they’d complain about losign their parking space or whatever. Buy less stuff, it makes riding the bus/biking a whole lot easier.
Separately, I think the flexcar idea might work on campus, but as for columbus as a whole, i dont think its dense enough and their isn’t a good public transit system to support it. Everything here is so spread out that it would take a insanely large number of PODs to offer convenience to a significant amount of people. A good public transit system is essential to get people to the cars.
My last comment is this: All of these college kids who feel the need to bring their cars to school and use them for everyday things is a real reflection on how and where we are raising our kids. You teach a kid that a car is an ultra-necessary tool and it is near impossible to reverse that even in a college environment where things are relatively walkable….but also columbus is just a driving kinda town.
I suppose I can empathize with this when you say “use them for everyday things,” but don’t forget that a fair number of 18- and 19-year-olds still have some roots that they haven’t pulled up yet back in their hometowns, and if your parents live even so far away as Dublin, to say nothing of Mentor or Strongsville or Indian Hill or Centerville or any other bedroom community you care to mention around Ohio’s other cities, a car is the only way to get home. My freshman year, some other freshmen were going home every weekend, or nearly so. Having a car was about as necessary as having a bed.
Also, for those who got tired of the campus nightlife scene (I mean I love Four Kegs [or "Zigs" as oldtimers still call it, I hear ...] as much as the next non-Greek–i.e., not much–but it does get old after a while), there was almost never a late bus back from the Arena District or Long Street (which was still going strong at the time) and you could sometimes end up waiting 45 minutes or more for a cab, so a car and a designated driver may not count as necessities (you could always just not go out and stay home watching movies and drinking beer), but they certainly saved a fair amount of aggravation.
Most students lived off campus starting sophomore year and another large group fled at the start of junior year. Most of the off-campus apartment complexes have parking in the back alleys.
Like you said, Columbus is just a driving kind of town.
Here’s their spot on Woody Hayes Dr., with a Tacoma, an Accord and a Civic Hybrid. I wonder what they are going to do during football games?
FWIW, first year students living in the dorms aren’t allowed to bring cars to campus. There are, of course, exceptions – but this is the general rule. This has been so successful that there’s been talk of adding 2nd years into this as well…
I can’t believe that Flexcar has cars in OSU parking spaces! I assume they’re somehow paying OSU to use the spaces, but given the premium on central campus parking, that’s pretty impressive.
I’m sure that Ohio State views it as providing a service to their students. I bet Flexcar gets a discount on those spaces.
An ‘A’ (park anywhere) sticker currently costs $606.
Here’s their spot on Woody Hayes Dr., with a Tacoma, an Accord and a Civic Hybrid. I wonder what they are going to do during football games?
I’m going to rent one of those cars in that spot every saturday so I can tailgate there :P hehe well not really, but wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I represent another audience of Flexcar users that hasn’t been considered yet – OSU employees who live near campus. As a “northern cusp of Vic Village” dweller, I’m just 1/2 mile from the nearest Flexcar location, and within a mile of half of the fleet. The locations I frequent are campus, home, and Grandview – all of which are straight, quick shots on COTA.
Work is walkable when the temperature is a little more cooperative (not a fan of summer heat) if I can get myself out of bed 25 minutes earlier. And I drive a scooter on weather-less days.
I’ve been waiting for a car-sharing program to come to Columbus (didn’t think one would). I view this as the last piece of the puzzle leading to selling my car. The infrequent trips to Easton/Sawmill (Trader Joe’s stock ups!), the visits to Lowe’s, and trips up to Michigan – these are the only things left in my life that needed a car. Usually my husband and I go together, but for the even less frequent times when I need to run one of those errands on my own, now there is Flexcar – and I’m jumping on board.
Benefits for me: $3,500 cash for my car (it’s paid off!), no paying for an “A” pass (that’s $606 savings), no paying for gas (except the rare scooter fill-up), no paying for insurance on a car, no paying for maintenance for a car. It can’t get too much better than that.
Sounds like an awesome choice!
Please post a review all about it if you decide to do this! I would be interested in hearing what you think about the experience.
Sounds like you’ll be saving a boatload of money for a minor inconvenience! Nice! 8)
Options people. It’s what it’s all about!
I will definitely post about my experience. My application is being processed, and I should receive my keycard in a week or two.
[quote="hodges"
Benefits for me: $3,500 cash for my car (it’s paid off!), no paying for an “A” pass (that’s $606 savings), no paying for gas (except the rare scooter fill-up), no paying for insurance on a car, no paying for maintenance for a car. It can’t get too much better than that.
This is exactly the post I’ve been mulling over in my head. I live up in Clintonville, and I’m hoping to get a job within walking distance soon. If I get it, it’s getting to the point where keeping my car (also paid off) is a bit ridiculous. I have a 1998 car with fewer than 60,000 miles on it — that tells you how much I like driving. Having a car share in Columbus could be the thing that tips the scales for me to actually sell it off.
Interesting conversation about Flexcar from back in March.
8)
I have not sold my car yet, but I decided to FlexCar out to Easton for some errands last week. Here’s my experience:
Reservations: I followed the instructions that came with my FlexCard, logged in easily, made a pin, and went right to the reservation page. I navigated to Columbus-OSU area (you can rent anywhere you go with FlexCar) and entered the appropriate information. It shows the cars’ availability MSOutlook-style, with reserved time blocked off. My only beef is that they only show 4 cars per screen – you have to choose “Next”, “Next”, “Next” to see all of your options. The hourly prices are listed for each car along with their location and a graphic of which type of vehicle it is (truck, van, suv, car). Oh, reservations are in 30-minute blocks.
The car: There is one car on West Campus for $5 an hour. I wanted a car for 3 hours, so I thought it was worth the short ride on my scooter over to West Campus to save 12 bucks (the other cars seems to be all $9 and $10). It was a Civic. I’m sure I was the first person to use it – everything was squeaky clean and the tank was full.
Getting into the car: I was 8 minutes early, but I thought I’d try anyway. Alas, no entry until 1 minute before your reserved time – but you can call to change your reservation when you arrive at the car. I waved my FlexCard in front of the reader, it blinked yellow, then green, then the doors unlocked and I gained entry.
Driving the car: I took the key out of the holder in the glovebox, and the clock started. I turned on the air and the radio (CD101. It also had a single-CD player and probably MP3 plug-in). No problems driving, although I don’t particularly like the float-y feel of the Civic/Ford Focus/most cars that size.
Hauling the cargo: I bought a shovel and a bag of peat moss at Lowe’s. they fit nicely in the trunk (on top of plastic, of course). I made a stop at home to unload before taking the car back.
Leaving the car: I got back 12 minutes early – good thing! I couldn’t remember how the key fit in the timer/holder thing in the glovebox. It took me a good 2 minutes to figure it out. But I won’t forget next time! (hint: the KEY doesn’t slide into the holder – just a piece of the keychain!). I turned off the air, and the radio. I made sure my trash was disposed of, and I zipped off on my scooter.
I got a few interested looks while driving much to my pleasure.
Overall, an extremely easy process and a great experience. This affirms my plan to go car-free…as soon as I can sell the car…
thanks for the report.
So you are banking on Flexcar staying around?
How much did you spend overall on the rental (tax, surcharges, anything like that)?
Do you have to refill the tank?
Thanks!
They said it would take a couple of weeks to get my welcome packet to me, but it took less than one! I got my key today and I’m lookin’ for an excuse to try it out. I was thinking of taking it to the Indians / Tigers game I have tickets for, but I think I found a coworker with tickets to the same game who I’ll be carpooling with.
The attractive thing about it is that I drive this old SUV my wife came into just before we were married – sure it costs a lot to put gas in, but I’m in no position to buy a car of any kind right now – and the rental for long enough to go to Cleveland, watch a game and come back is about equivalent to a tank of gas in my truck – plus I get piece of mind, the good feeling that goes with conserving a little gasoline, and all that.
Really looking forward to trying it out.
Answer for trygr: my silly (it really is silly) pop-up handbook says that I’m to make sure there is at least a quarter tank of gas when I’m done with the car. And there is a card in the glove box that I use to do that – the gas is free.
Does anyone know when the free sign up for flexcar ends? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated!