as far as

Why I’m keeping my PhillyCarShare membership

Some aspects have not been disputed from all I spoke with:

• PCS has been agressivley mis-managed - including its finances, customer service, gas-card scandal, & last-minute stealthy membership change
• PCS has strayed from its mission (perhaps unwittingly)
• The loss of PCS leaves Philadelphia with a single carshare provider
• Folks who rent once/month or less will pay more under the new pricing

So, those things leave me the following questions:

1. Might there be opportunities to get PCS restructured for transparency & competency?
2. Can PCS sustain a business model capable of funding its operations through times of lean grant & foundation funding?
3. How bad could it be in a zipcar-only city?
4. Does careshare represent a good value for me?

(my) Answers, in order

1. Yes - I believe there will be extremely vocal minorities among both the group that stays and the crowd that leaves (but might come back under the right circumstances).  The thing the public has in its corner is PCS’s focus on one market - if they don’t serve it well enough they’ll be increasingly marginalized.  A couple of brave board members can suitably shake things up with well-timed exposure.  Finally, I believe Philadelphia hungers for a successful PCS, even given it’s righteous anger over the current debacle.
2. Absolutely.  With unemployment so high, the future of american automakers uncertain, credit scarce, and all of the more ordinary reasons car ownership is only questionably worthwhile - there is certainly money to be made.  Anything including a renegotiation or re-bidding of their current insurance contracts, on-vehicle advertising, aggressive marketing for fleet-replacement, etc - could tighten up the business model.  I think profits from organizational fleet replacement contracts could subsidize accessible monthly rates for low-income residents in a limited fashion; fundraising development might restore full accessibility or grant programs in the futre.
3. Fuckin’ lousy.  Their “philly wheels” plan has a built-in expiration date of PCS’s bankruptcy or acquisition.  Further, Philadelphia is merely one of many markets that will be served in a profitable rather than blanket manner.  I feel Zipcar has a place here - visitors should have a carshare option while in town, and frequent travelers shouldn’t have to buy two memberships.  But as a working-class town with strong non-profit & DIY communities, we owe it to ourselves to maintain a homegrown non-profit solution.  If PCS is allowed to fail, it’ll be extremely difficult for something else to rise anew if it has to face an established national competitor.
4. Sometimes.  I don’t own a car anymore and don’t plan that changing soon.  Bicycle, septa, carpooling with driving friends, and some walking are my M.O.  I also like a taxi regularly enough, it’s perfectly spontaneous for one-way trips about town.  AND, for the times I need a car rental it’s sometimes better to rent from a chain.  All that said, the ladie & I have been using cars a little more often than once/month between the two of us.  It’s a useful option when I need to make or combine short spontaneous trips.  Further, PCS has a little-advertised option to pay $125 for a year of membership instead of $15/month.  That comes out to a little over $10/month, a significant difference.  It makes that one trip/month cost about $20, which is still cheaper that what it’d usually cost for the round-trip taxi.

I understand folks who don’t want to take the gamble on a year membership and/or are rightly angry at PCS for dropping the ball.  I hope PCS gets strong enough to regain your business, and keep mine.