Spring Break
Baltimore car sharing program in testing phase
Issue date: 3/26/09
Long known for congested streets and a dearth of parking space, Baltimore City will be getting an environmentally friendly boost from a car sharing program, despite the fact that the parking authority's plans for the initiative have changed since December.
According to Tiffany James, special assistant for the Parking Authority of Baltimore City, the agency in charge of bringing the car sharing project to Baltimore, the decision to create a nonprofit group, Baltimore CarShare, to operate this program has been scrapped. The Parking Authority will turn to private companies and the city expects to see the beginnings of this program in place later this year.
Using a private company is a return to the original conception of the plan, which was first formed in 2006 when the Parking Authority put out a request for proposals to the two major car sharing companies, FlexCar and ZipCar. Only FlexCar expressed interest at the time.
Car sharing was seen as "an extension of public transportation," which is another method to help combat the serious lack of parking evident in many Baltimore neighborhoods, according to James. Car sharing was designed to take cars off street shoulders and the roads, reducing both congestion and carbon emissions.
The city had come to an agreement with FlexCar in 2007 to begin making public cars available for a fee, but the company merged with its competitor, ZipCar, later that year; ZipCar was not interested in taking up the Baltimore project.
The Parking Authority decided to turn inward and create its own non-profit group to make the program available. The city was heavily influenced by the well established PhillyCarShare, a successful non-profit group founded in 2004 in Philadelphia.
As of December 2008, the Parking Authority was planning on going forward with its own non-profit group, Baltimore CarShare. The company planned to charge $4 or $5 per hour to subscribers of the program and would have employed a number of hybrid cars. James was hopeful that the first public cars would be on the road by early 2009.
According to Tiffany James, special assistant for the Parking Authority of Baltimore City, the agency in charge of bringing the car sharing project to Baltimore, the decision to create a nonprofit group, Baltimore CarShare, to operate this program has been scrapped. The Parking Authority will turn to private companies and the city expects to see the beginnings of this program in place later this year.
Using a private company is a return to the original conception of the plan, which was first formed in 2006 when the Parking Authority put out a request for proposals to the two major car sharing companies, FlexCar and ZipCar. Only FlexCar expressed interest at the time.
Car sharing was seen as "an extension of public transportation," which is another method to help combat the serious lack of parking evident in many Baltimore neighborhoods, according to James. Car sharing was designed to take cars off street shoulders and the roads, reducing both congestion and carbon emissions.
The city had come to an agreement with FlexCar in 2007 to begin making public cars available for a fee, but the company merged with its competitor, ZipCar, later that year; ZipCar was not interested in taking up the Baltimore project.
The Parking Authority decided to turn inward and create its own non-profit group to make the program available. The city was heavily influenced by the well established PhillyCarShare, a successful non-profit group founded in 2004 in Philadelphia.
As of December 2008, the Parking Authority was planning on going forward with its own non-profit group, Baltimore CarShare. The company planned to charge $4 or $5 per hour to subscribers of the program and would have employed a number of hybrid cars. James was hopeful that the first public cars would be on the road by early 2009.
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