HOURCAR makes debut

An elderly neighbor once explained to me how people survived the Depression, by pooling their resources—their tools, their shopping, their transportation. Today, however, a row of 10 homes may well have 10 tool sheds, 10 barbecues, 10 “Lion King” videos, most of which are used only a couple of hours a year. Ten Twin Cities residents are likely to have 10 cars between them, each of which spend most of their time in parking spaces and take a sizable chunk of each owner’s paycheck in cost, gas, insurance and repair.

The local Neighborhood Energy Consortium (NEC) has created a solution: a car-sharing program called HOURCAR, which allows residents to rent cars for short periods.

NEC leases, registers, insures and maintains a fleet of gas-electric hybrids and takes on all the responsibilities of maintaining them, including paying for fuel. Residents who sign up for the program can reserve a timeshare by phone or e-mail, then walk or bike to one of the four initial hubs and take off.

On Friday, NEC organizers unveiled the group’s first fleet of six hybrid cars at the Como Pavilion Parking lot in St. Paul, and opened the program for its 30 initial members. The cars will be parked at four hubs, two in central Minneapolis, two in downtown St. Paul.

Car-sharing plans are popular in Europe, where studies showed members drive up to 50 percent fewer miles after joining such programs. While participants pay less than car owners, the studies found, they also see more of the real cost of driving, and are motivated to drive less, creating less traffic. Other studies found that each shared car leads to a reduction of six to 19 private cars used.

HOURCAR creators hope their program will let low-income residents who cannot afford cars to become more mobile. Other residents who can easily use mass transit could use HOURCAR’s fleet for regional trips, organizers said, freeing them from the need to have their own car, while multi-car households could supplement the car or cars they own and save the cost. Finally, businesses can save money and redirect resources from in-house fleet management to pursuit of their mission.

For more information call 651- 221-4462 or visit www.hourcar.org.