It’s no secret that I intensely dislike Austin’s Capital Metro service. In my experience, Austin has the absolute worst public transit system I’ve ever used, for a wide variety of reasons (all of which have been catalogued here and added to the online suggestion box over at Speak Up Austin). My main complaint, of course, is that the buses I need to take only run once every half an hour, which either means that I end up getting somewhere either infuriatingly early or ludicrously late. Add to that the insult of knowing that I can usually get to my destination in only 20 minutes by car, whereas the bus route takes its sweet time and deposits me there after ONE WHOLE HOUR, and you do not have the makings of a world-class public transit system.
It’s really ridiculous. Austin can do better, but apparently whomever is in charge of scheduling buses just doesn’t give a damn. I mean, you can’t even check the bus schedule at your individual stop to find out when the next bus is coming! It all screams “We don’t care about our riders; everyone should go buy a car and quit bothering us. Seriously, why don’t you just drive? Kill the planet with a giant SUV or something; WE DON’T CARE!!”
There are plenty of things I’d do differently, if I were in charge. Like post bus schedules at every stop. Or simplify the terrible phone system so that you can quickly and easily access information about your stop, at the press of a button (not the scan of one of those squiggly codes that my “dumb” phone can’t read). Or run cross-town routes every 10 or 15 minutes instead of every half-hour. You know, the basics.
But sometimes, you just don’t care about why your public transit sucks anymore; you just want an alternative so you can get there in 20 minutes, not an hour. Enter the mysterious car2go, whose teeny Smart cars you may have seen zipping around town. They look something like this:
It almost looks like it’s smiling, doesn’t it? That’s because the car2go system is really easy to use. You sign up for a membership online (mine was free, from a promo when they first came to town; these days it’s a one-time $35 fee to join), wait for your little card to come in the mail, and then you’re ready to roll.
To go for a drive, just find a car near you and use your card to unlock it. You can either reserve a car in advance (by locating one online with their map, or by calling their customer service number), or just grab any free car that’s nearby (a better bet if you’re already downtown). To unlock the car, you hold your membership card up to the card reader (pictured below), and wait for it to unlock the doors. Then you hop inside, and answer a few questions about the car’s condition–using the on-board computer that controls the GPS, radio and reporting devices–before using the key to start up the engine. Simple, right?
Here's me telling car2go about the condition of the vehicle, before driving off!
The car itself is super fun to drive. Smart cars can be used as either manual or automatic transmissions, so if you’re the type who knows how to drive stick-shift, you can switch to manual and conserve gas. If, like me, you have no clue how to change gears properly and have previously destroyed a clutch on a friend’s VW Rabbit, you should probably stick to the automatic side. Either way, this little car is super peppy, which is why you’ll always see these cars zooming past you on the streets.
Or maybe that has something to do with the fact that they’re charging you by the minute (35 cents a minute, to be exact), and people are just in a hurry?
Like I said, my commute to work takes only 20 minutes by car versus one hour by bus, so on Saturdays I really find the car2go handy. I reserve a car the night before, get an update via my cell phone about where the car is located, and then have 15 minutes to pick up my reservation. I hop in the car, drive to work, park it in any legal spot (there are car2go parking signs in certain areas of the city, but you can also use any free street parking spots, and car2go has a deal with the city so that you don’t have to pay for the metered spots, either), and I’m done.
The great thing about car2go is that you’re only charged for the time you’re using the vehicle, so if it takes me exactly 17 minutes to get to work, I’m charged $5.95 (plus tax). For 20 minutes, it’s $7. If you want to use the car by the hour, it’s $12.99 per hour, or you can take it for the whole day for $65.99. You can also keep the same vehicle by telling the computer when you stop the car that you’re doing a “stopover.” Keep the key while you shop, hit the gym, or run your errands. When you get to your final destination, you tell the computer you’re done for the day, return the key to its place by the gearshift, and log out with the card reader. Simple.
Car2go is obviously more expensive than public transit (you can’t beat $1 per ride, or $2 for a daily pass, really), but it’s super handy when you need to get someplace FAST. I don’t use the system every day, but on the weekends it’s my favorite way to get to work. I can listen to the radio, take whatever route I want, and even grab a coffee or breakfast taco on the way there. It’s like having your own car without all the hassles. You don’t have to have auto insurance, pay for mechanical repairs (unless they’re your fault, of course), deal with getting city stickers updated, pay for parking tickets (unless you manage to park illegally, which is next to impossible with the free meter parking)… it’s awesome!
The downsides? Okay, there are a few. Number one: if you forget which credit card you’ve assigned to your account and then don’t have the appropriate funds set aside (because they charge you at the end of each ride), you’ll get dinged $25 for the declined payment. Ouch. It’d be nice if you could add multiple payment options, to avoid this type of thing, but I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.
Second, if you don’t pick up the car you reserved within your allotted time frame, they charge you $6 for a “no-show.” This sucks, because sometimes people can reserve the car right out from under you, so you’re left hunting around trying to find a non-existent vehicle. I think this problem stems from the fact that car2go doesn’t require users to return cars to any central (or other) location, so the cars are always available for rent wherever the last person has left them; therefore, someone might take your car before your reservation time, and a new one will not magically appear to take its place. Doh! On the plus side, however, their customer service reps are really nice and will happily refund your money if you call to explain the situation.
Third, it’s definitely pricey if you want to use the system on a daily basis. Since I mostly rely on public transit to get where I’m going (despite the fact that it takes FOREVER), and only use car2go on the weekends, I think it’s a good deal. If you want a regular go-to vehicle, however, you’d probably be better off buying or leasing a car of your own, depending on your finances.
For me, the benefits of car2go far outweigh any negatives. I like having the option of circumventing the bus system when I really need to get somewhere in a hurry, and although the system is a little too pricey for me to use on a daily basis, I don’t consider their prices unfair. Most of the places I’d drive to are short trips, so I can’t see ever having to pay for more than an hour’s worth of driving, which makes car2go a perfect alternative to the bus.
So, in conclusion: if you’re looking to ditch your car on a full-time basis and fill in public transit’s gaps with a car-sharing system, I’d recommend a car2go membership. Rock on over Austin!
