 "Photo: Michael Baldon/The Daily Texan")
Austin CarShare celebrated their third anniversary with a fundraiser Monday night on Sixth Street at El Sol y La Luna restaurant. The group reviewed their achievements and encouraged growth in the alternative transportation sector.
The nonprofit company allows members who may need a lift in the inner-Austin area to rent cars and trucks by the hour.
Brian Donovan, treasurer of the company’s board of directors, said they first released cars at the end of October 2006.
“We want to help people understand the full cost of owning a car,” he said. “For each car used [from the organization], there are eight to 10 fewer cars on the roads.”
Donovan said UT students could benefit from the program, and he is surprised by the small amount of students, staff and faculty that have used their services.
Nilda de la Llata, the owner of El Sol y La Luna and CarShare renter, said she wants to help organizations like CarShare because she likes the idea of what the company is doing.
“CarShare will be saving a lot more energy and a little bit of fuel,” de la Llata said. “Other methods of transportation are important than just everyone owning their own car.”
CarShare board member Brandi Clark said that they have not grown as much as they expected. The program currently uses seven cars for 249 members.
Clark said the company will fill in the gaps left by car2go, a new 200-vehicle car share program, which will only offer two-seat vehicles to users.
“We are the first CarShare in all of Texas,” she said. “When car2go gets to where they have hundreds of cars in roads in Austin, we will be a complementary option for their users in need of more than a two-seater car.”
Councilman Chris Riley was also awarded the Living Light Award by the organization for living lightly on the planet, Clark said. He said he uses the bus routes and his bike for transportation and occasionally uses Austin CarShare for multiple events in one night.
“It’s actually a lot easier than you might think. It saves me a lot of time; once you take the car out of the picture, it makes things easier,” he said. “When there are more options from CarShare, it will be a more viable option. I’m hoping it will take hold and follow suit for other cities to follow by.”
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