You might have noticed that the car-sharing program, car2go, has moved its home area out of Bexley, as well as other less frequented areas, such as Clintonville and German Village. As of Aug. 26, car2go has minimized its service area to be closer to the downtown area. For those who have purchased a membership, you might be wondering the implications of the service shrinkage.
“It’s really just a part of our strategy for growth, to be honest,” said Brad Ducy, car2go spokesperson. “People have told me that they have been unable to find a car downtown, so we are trying to make our service more accessible for them.”
However, though the cars are no longer positioned around the streets of Bexley, it does not mean that users would be unable to drive the cars into Bexley city limits.
“As of Aug. 26, we adjusted our service in the Bexley area from a free floating concept to a designated space option for Capital University faculty, staff, and students,” said Chet Ridenour, car2go General Manager.
What this means is that although there are no longer tiny cars trickled around the area, there will still be two designated drop off points for users to park their cars, one on Pleasant Ridge and Mound, and the other on E. Broad and S. Chesterfield. These locations will be the main hub for car2go vehicles coming to and from the Bexley area.
“We looked at our data in the first year and a half, as well as member feedback. Many of our cars were sitting from one to two days, even to the 72 hour limit,” said Ridenour. “This change will help us move our cars into areas into higher demand, as well as help us provide a better service to overall areas.”
car2go is a company that began in Ulm, Germany in 2008. As of September 2015, car2go operates 200 vehicles in Columbus, has a home area of 17 square miles, plus 78 additional dedicated parking locations, and has a Columbus membership base of 22,000. They serve eight countries and 30 cities worldwide with over total 900,000 customers.
The company is undecided whether or not they would reduce the number of cars in their fleet. The company must pay $150 per car annually to the city in order to obtain individual parking permits. The current permits expire Nov. 1.
As far as bringing the full service back to Bexley, it will be dependent on demand.
“We are monitoring usage, and once membership grows and usage grows, we will be reevaluating our service areas,” said Ridenour.
If you are on of the 600 first-year students who are unable to have a car on campus, this service might be for you. Typically, a membership fee is $35 dollars, but car2go is running a promotion for Capital students and faculty, which lowers the fee to $15 dollars. Cap students and staff also recieve 30 free minutes of usage, which is priced at $.41 per minute, plus tax. When signing up on columbus.car2go.com, simply enter the code Capital1530.
