Car Leases to Car Sharing

Okay, car leasing companies aren’t going anywhere, but here is a new movement in the car leases industry that is rapidly gaining momentum.

In San Francisco, a new car sharing company called SprideShare is intent on allowing users to share each other’s cars for $5 to $8 per hour. State law is a current impediment to the car sharing dream. But a new bill will allow insurance companies to legalize car sharing, and if it passes, it may become law.

The average car sits idle 90% of the time, but this for profit company wants to change the way cars are used. If the pilot program succeeds with around 30 cars, it will continue to grow. Currently, City CarShare is a non-profit San Francisco group that has 325 cars, and looks forward to the expansion of car sharing into suburban areas.

Today there are already a few car sharing companies out there – Relay Rides of Baltimore and soon moving to Boston, Whipcar in London, and Gettaround in San Francisco, which supports the bill.

Maybe one day, in an entirely sustainable community, no one will actually own a car, and car leases will go by the hour. Maybe.