I can think of numerous Madison business start-ups that have come along over the years that seemed interesting and innovative, but (once past an initial round of publicity) were never heard of again.
One pioneering venture that has beaten the odds is Community Car, a service for members to use a car by the hour or by the day. When I first heard of this, it brought to mind some sort of campus-based cooperative with a fleet of junkers. I realized Community Car is something different when I ran across one of their parked vehicles: a shiny new Prius. Also, the venture gained credibility with me when I learned that the sales staff at the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau routinely use the cars when giving tours of the city to visiting convention planners.
Community Car has various plans, including one for companies and non-profits that has a $25 fee, plus $25 per individual member. Members make online reservations for an hour or more and pick up an available car from various downtown and campus locations. A computer-coded key fob allows them to unlock the car at their designated time. Costs are in the range of $8 per hour, including gas and insurance. (An “insomniac’s rate” of $3 per hour is in effect from midnight to 7 a.m.) A big benefit is free VIP parking in UW campus lots. Community Car’s Web site (communitycar.com) is a model of customer friendliness, so it’s easy to make those reservations.
Community Car started in Madison five years ago. It didn’t invent the concept, but it was an early entrant into what is a growing industry. Nationally, Hertz, Enterprise and U-Haul are now potentially formidable competitors. There’s an environmental aspect to the concept, and university towns, apparently, are prime territory. Madison, Berkeley and Portland are the first test markets for U-Haul’s U Car Share.
I’m always eager to learn what brings entrepreneurial success, so I called Community Car founder Sonya Newenhouse.
Community Car, she emphasized, is a business, not a co-op, club, or nonprofit. Profit is one of “The Three Ps of Sustainability” — along with People and Planet, says Newenhouse. People benefit from low cost car usage, the Planet benefits from the reduced carbon emissions of shared vehicle use, and Profits are necessary for a sustainable model, she explained.
The company was started after a feasibility study identified a potential market of nearly 5,000 members and the company recently hit its 1,000th member, “right on target,” says Newenhouse. The car fleet now totals 17.
Community partnerships are a big part of the venture’s success. For example, the Madison Community Foundation sponsored the purchase of a van so nonprofits would have an option of vehicle ownership. Several downtown law firms and developers offered parking spaces and signed on as members so their employees can bus or bike to work, yet still have convenient transportation for errands throughout the day.
Increasingly, companies are embracing environmentally friendly ways of doing business. Community Car gives them a cost-efficient way to do this.
