Zipcar Leaves a Car Sharing Void in Downtown

By Eric Richardson
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008, at 07:56AM

waving the smart card on the flexcar ... again

Sarah Gilbert [Flickr]

Photo by

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES —

Zipcar announced yesterday (via an email that some members got and some didn’t) that it is pulling out of Southern California, save for a few university contracts. The services had previously been run by Flexcar, who merged with Zipcar late last year. An article in today’s San Diego Union Tribune points a finger at the obvious culprit: cash flow.

Following a recent merger with competitor Zipcar, it appears the move was based on finances.

“There’s no doubt it was a tough decision,” said company spokesman John Williams. “You have to be responsive to where the demand is, and they were seeing the strongest demand and the strongest prospects for growth in the university markets.”

While the move is a tough one for those who had come to rely on the service, I don’t think that the company’s failure to make Downtown work is an indictment of the concept. There are other models, and I believe that another model could work for Downtown.

While they got a lot better last year, on the whole Flexcar just didn’t get Downtown. Why weren’t there cars in new developments from the moment they opened? Developers are all for solutions that reduce the number of spots they need, so I have trouble believing it would be lack of interest.

Yesterday I spent a good bit of time thinking about City Car Share in Berkeley and Philly Car Share in Philadelphia. Each is a non-profit car sharing organization whose launch was seeded by municipal participation, getting over the chicken-and-egg problem of which comes first, the cars or the members? I think this model could be replicated well in Downtown L.A.

In the interim, I’d love to hear from you. If you used the service, what did you like? What kept you from using it more? If you didn’t, what kept you away?

Comments

Will Campbell writes:

As you point out Flexcar did improve it’s downtown presence, but I think part of the problem with its inability to get cars where they should’ve been was something of a Catch-22: They never had (or couldn’t keep) a full-time sales rep who would’ve been able to mine those new developments – but even if they had, the company didn’t have the vehicles available to place.

I’ve been a Flexcar member practically since its inception in L.A. and in those five years I attempted to use the service three times – twice successfully. The failed time was due to a broken card reader in the Eco Village-based hybrid. The main reason for my poor record of usage was that it just wasn’t practical. Cases in point: the last time I used Flexcar was totally frivolous. I had a $10 credit on my account (from that failed reader experience) so I biked downtown checked out a Mini and just drove it around for a couple hours last August. Then in November I had one of the USC-stationed Honda Elements reserved to use for a weekend trip to Death Valley, but canceled at the last minute and went with a Hertz rental when I realized I’d go weeeelll over the 180 mile-per-day allotment and Hertz would be cheaper.

I definitely would’ve used the service more had a vehicle been more convenient to my Silver Lake location, and sadly ZipCar’s contraction of vehicles comes at a time when the city is considering a plan to allow dedicated on-street parking spaces be reserved for shared-use cars.

When I learned of the merge had high hopes for ZipCar and activated my new membership card the day it arrived last week. But in the wake of this extreme and unannounced (or at the least poorly presented) redeployment, I have even less faith in them then I did in Flexcar. I may keep my no-annual-fee membership active for awhile as a precaution in case they get their act together and this campus-centric plan is just for the short term, but only because it doesn’t cost me anything.

# on Jan.24.2008 AT 10:19 AM

BusTard writes:

This is sad news.

I had a ZipCar account in NYC, and was disappointed when I got to L.A. in 2005 to find that ZipCar was not here. (I was not aware of FlexCar.) I had planned to get an accoutn, but like Will, I knew I would not use it much so there was no urgency in applying. I might still do so, as USC is on the other side of town and not too difficult (three buses via as many agencies to get over there, but all brief rides). I was unaware that the Eco-Village had a car contracted there. First and Vermont, correct?

# on Jan.24.2008 AT 11:17 AM

AFS writes:

The ZIP CAR mess hits me where it hurts. My wife and I live in DTLA, she works by the airport I work in the financial dist., so I walk to work and she drives.

After selling our 2nd car 2 years ago I signed up for flexcar, 1 car across the street from our loft, and several around my office. I would use flexcar about 4 to 10 times a month for Dr. appointments, family, shopping, work functions etc.. Now it’s all gone. I get the rental car thing for non car people and weekend trips and I still use public transit when I can BUT the removal of the flexcar and or zipcars is crushing.

# on Jan.24.2008 AT 12:46 PM

bentrogena writes:

I joined flexcar when my car died and I was going carless for a year and a half. I used the service around 15 or so times and was not really impressed. The idea is great and sometimes it worked perfectly, where the car was just where I needed when I needed it, but on two occasions the car I had reserved wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Once they sent me to three places to find the car after I called to say that it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Another time I had to sweet talk the attendant at the Pershing Square garage because Flexcar hadn’t paid their parking bill. Duh!

Add to that the fact that as an Echo Park resident I had to take the bus downtown to get a car, and it became more of a chore than it was worth. They needed to have more cars and better tracking in order for the service to be a reliable alternative to owning a car.

# on Jan.24.2008 AT 04:45 PM

Will Campbell writes:

Bustard: Yes, Eco Village is at 1st and Vermont (actually a block or so east of Vermont, south of first). I’m pretty sure Zipcar’s taken that vehicle away too and if so I can only bet the Eco Villagers are pretty steamed.

# on Jan.25.2008 AT 09:42 AM

mnbvc writes:

AFS: I agree it does suck for us all. However, tell your wife to take transit, since she works on the Rail line, its safer, and save you lots of money. That way you’ll have a spare car to make the short trips around town while she’s at work.

# on Jan.28.2008 AT 12:09 PM

Bryan T writes:

I’m upset that Zipcar pulled out of downtown. Who will step in to fill the void that Flexcar left?

# on Feb.04.2008 AT 05:01 PM