Car2go Car Sharing

[darrelplant]

No use to us on this side of the pond, but I thought folks would be interested in this article from The New York Times today:

In Germany, Cars by the Hour

EVEN those city-dwelling Europeans who have fallen out of love with the car will need one from time to time. A new alternative to ownership and conventional rentals is being tested in the southern German city of Ulm, a 40-minute drive from Stuttgart, the headquarters of Daimler.

The mobility concept, as Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars, refers to its program, is called Car2go. It is the latest wrinkle in car sharing, a plan for managing short-term, on-the-spot car rentals. Daimler has distributed 50 diesel-powered Smart cars around Ulm, a city of about 120,000 people, to field-test the first major project of its Business Innovation division.

...

Car2go is a daring step for an automaker. According to the Ademe survey, when car owners adhere to a car-sharing program, most of them get rid of their own cars. Car sharing works because owning a car in a city can be a pain.

...

The Car2go program, which began operations on Friday, is for the next six months a field-test of the electronic management system. Some 500 to 1,000 Daimler employees will be driving the cars and working the kinks out of the system before more cars are added and all residents are invited to sign up next spring.

[Neonspinnazz]

Cars by the hour, I call that CPH

[ShoshTrvls]

We have two car sharing programs in Philadelphia and one of them has Smarts.

[GetSmrt28277]

Concept to award-if you read through this thread.

Press Release:
First North American Public Launch of car2go & Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Presents 2010 Clean Air Excellence Award to car2go and City of Austin

First North American Public Launch of car2go & Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Presents 2010 Clean Air Excellence Award to car2go and City of Austin - MarketWatch