Written today for the Bucktown Community Organization newsletter:

Sharing is Best

Your car demands a lot from you: $30 for a tank of gas, $300 a month for payments, $2,500 a year for insurance, $150 a year for stickers, potentially thousands if some tiny screw under the hood gets loose, and maybe $50 for a ticket, if that rare parking space turns out to be not so legal after all. And all this for something that’s used just an hour or two a day — if even that.

What if you could have the convenience and flexibility of having a car — without any of the random costs and hassles? Some Bucktown residents have been enjoying just that thanks to I-GO, a car-sharing service run by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a local nonprofit.

�We�re asking people to chose a smarter way to drive,� said Kathy Summers, I-GO’s vice president for marketing. �It�s like owning a car, only better.�

Organized car-sharing cooperatives began in Europe decades ago. Technological advances have made car sharing easier to use. Now, thousands of people in cities across the U.S. and Canada, including nearly 300 in Chicago, share cars. The car-sharing service takes care of insurance, maintenance, parking, and gas; members just drive.

I-GO members have 24-hour access to its growing fleet of cars, which are currently stationed in reserved parking spots in downtown, Edgewater, Hyde Park, Logan Square, and Wicker Park. Members use voice mail to reserve cars, then return the car to its parking spot when done. Members pay just $6 an hour, plus 50 cents per mile; an average member pays about $120 monthly. I-GO makes particularly good sense for people who drive for a few errands each month, or for families who have but rarely use a second car. For longer trips, I-GO members can get reduced rates on rental cars.

Car sharing isn’t just convenient and economical for users; it also helps the community and the environment. Each I-GO car serves about 15-20 members. Having one car on the roads, instead of 15, frees up almost an entire block of parking spots.

Since I-GO trips are priced by the hour and have to be reserved, members are likely to think a little before driving — reducing the total number of miles driven and encouraging walking, biking, or transit for short trips. Two dozen Seattle families cut their driving by over 1,200 miles a week after joining car-sharing, reducing local traffic congestion.

Cutting back on driving is the single biggest step most Americans can take to improve the environment. “I-GO helps improve our air quality by providing a way for Chicagoans to reduce the need for private vehicles,” says Marcia Jiminez, city environment commissioner. And when I-GO members do drive, it’s in an ultra-low-emissions Honda Civic.

Thanks to I-GO, Bucktown residents can easily help save the planet while saving money and headaches. The Wicker Park car, near North and Leavitt, is convenient for many Bucktown residents; I-GO will expand if there’s demonstrated interest elsewhere in the neighborhood. For more information about I-GO, visit www.I-GO-cars.org or call 773-278-4-I-GO.