Daimler car2go Program Tops 10,000 Members

Daimler’s car sharing program car2go initiated in May 2010 has just reached 10,000 registered members in its first North American city Austin, Texas. According to Daimler, since the start of the car2go operations, more than 80,000 rentals have been completed throughout the greater downtown Austin area with average usage between 30 and 60 minutes per rental.

The customers range in age from college students to retirees, with about 50 percent of them aged between 18 and 35. Business customers include the City of Austin, LIVESTRONG, downtown real estate firm urbanspace, creative giant GSD&M and the State of Texas.

car2go offers a fleet of 200 smart fortwo vehicles that can be used 24/7. These can be accessed on demand and used for an undetermined period of time. In addition to that, it also allows users to make one way trips. It uses an original payment system, charging users for the time they use the car, instead of the distance traveled.

Reservations are made using a pre-paid mobile phone card system, only allowing the driver to rent a smart using his license, with the vehicles parked at random locations throughout the city. The fleet is equipped with windshield driver license readers that the drivers use for unlocking the vehicles.

"car2go’s convenience and ease of use has been received with incredible enthusiasm by Austinites and this growth has exceeded our initial expectations," Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go North America, said in a statement. "Reaching 10,000 members so rapidly in Austin is just the beginning of car2go's success in North America. In 2011, we will continue to expand to other North American cities where there is a demand for innovative and forward-thinking transportation solutions."