Monday Endorsement: Sharing

Specifically, car sharing. 

But first:

Remember when driving was fun?  When we lived in places with wide open spaces and scenery and no stop lights or cars in your way?  Corn as high as an elephant’s eye zipping past at 55mph?  Before the guilt of superfluous carbon emissions took some of the joy out of a joyride?  Before we moved to Chicago?

I remember.  (Those of you who didn’t actually move to Chicago with us probably remember even better.)  Me and Daisy, my little (“little”) Eagle Summit Wagon, zipping around Iowa, downshifting to make it up the big hills by the river, eating pie in little towns 40 miles from anywhere else, pulling over on the shoulder to take pictures of the sunset…

those were the days

I remember, but barely.  Here, driving is a nightmare.  It can take an hour to go the three miles needed to get to the freeway on a Saturday in December, for instance.  A really, really hellish hour.  There’s traffic, traffic traffic traffic, all the time!  No left turn arrows, lots of people running red lights (not that I blame them, it’s sometimes a matter of survival) and parking, oh sweet Jesus, Chicago just leased its parking meters to a private company (for the next 75 years, ???) in an effort to make a little money, and this private company went bezerk on fees: instead of paying a quarter to park for an hour at most meters, starting last month parking rates doubled, tripled and quadrupled, with meters in the neighborhood downtown where I work now demanding 14 quarters for an hour.  That’s $3.50 (or two full loads of laundry, depending on the specific value you place on quarters).

At any rate, there are a million reasons not to drive, not the least of which is that it’s just not necessary.  Usually.  The vast majority of the time, even.  Of course I endorse biking, and public transit, walking, and good ol’ fashioned staying in your own neighborhood – no need to drive 40 miles for pie anymore when our neighborhood is so inundated with delicious bakeries… 

But every now and then, you craigslist an end table from 2 miles away that would be just a bit too much to carry on the bus.  Or you need to make a run to Hobby Lobby in the suburbs, the dead zone of public transport (alternative solution would be getting a Hobby Lobby in Lakeview, now wouldn’t THAT solve all our problems?!?!), or you’re closing at the cafe on Saturday night but your dad is speaking at church up in Milwaukee at 9 on Sunday morning, and between midnight and 8 there just aren’t any greyhounds, amtraks, or metras going your way… it’s times like this that you maybe do need a car, but not to own, just to share. 

Enter I-Go Car Sharing, its fleet of cars waiting in strategic locations around the city (one right across the street from our apartment!), its array of flexible and affordable monthly/yearly plans, and its super helpful and friendly staff, on call 24/7.  It makes a lot of sense: I only “need” a car for, say, 5 hours in an average month.  So why not let other people use it for the other 715 or so hours instead of having it just sit there, expensive to park and a risk for break-ins and accidents?  

I can reserve a car months or minutes in advance – there’s almost always one available nearby – and I don’t have to worry about paying for parking, insurance, or, get this, even gas.  It’s all included.  And sure, I can’t store my umbrella and my lunch leftovers for the last couple weeks in the back seat, but with so many cars to choose from, it’s kind of like I own dozens of cars… I’ll say to Mac, “do you want to take the Civic today, or the Prius?”  Or the Honda Fit, or the Honda Element?  The silver Civic, or the blue one?  So many choices!  

You may have perhaps heard of Zip Car, a national car sharing program that works similarly.  We also have Zip Car in Chicago, and I do support their mission as well, but we chose I Go because it’s a non-profit, and because it’s Chicago.  Their goal is to make car sharing an integral part of the public transit system, and to that end, they work with neighborhoods and with the Chicago Transit Authority to ensure that people can get around to wherever they need to go, whenever they need to go, without having to own a car.  They’re also interested in turning the freed-up space and resources (owning a car can cost up to $7300/year in Chicago, I Go membership starts at $50) to foster growth in Chicago communities.  Says their website, “We expect that lower car ownership would free up resources that could be used to increase home ownership and business development in our region.”  Talk about big picture dreaming, hey?  I like big picture.

I really do strongly believe that the freedom to live without having to own a car is a birthright.  Furthermore, life without a gas and money guzzling weight on your shoulders shouldn’t seem impossible, it should seem normal, and it should definitely seem liberating, particularly in a big city like Chicago.  I Go Car Sharing is making that dream of not owning a car a reality for us and hundreds of others.  For that reason I heartily endorse them this Monday afternoon, for that and for the little glimmer of a thrill I get on those rare occasions when Lake Shore Drive isn’t so crowded after all and we’re flying on down the lake, faster than the busses… it does feel good.  I remember.

Tags: biking, Chicago, wishful thinking