By Cecily O’Connor
RedwoodAge.com

More baby boomers are flocking to car-sharing programs, drawn by impressive benefits like helping to save the environment while also saving about 89 percent of the cost of car ownership.

San Francisco artist Marcia Weisbrot shares a car because she doesn't like adding to congestion on the road.

Baby boomers “are a bigger demographic than we thought,” said Anita Daly, a spokeswoman for City CarShare, whose fleet of cars has been growing 25 percent to 30 percent annually since the company began in 2001. City CarShare plans to reach out to more boomers this year through a mix of targeted campaigns in publications they read and events they attend, she said.

City CarShare, based in San Francisco, is one of several providers in a growing market for car-share services that appeal to aging urbanites. Other providers include Zipcar, which got its start in Boston.

ZipCar isn’t making a “specific effort” to target baby boomers, but anecdotally, is seeing older members use its services as they move into cities now that their children have left the nest, said Adam Johnson, regional marketing manager.

ZipCar has 80,000 consumer and business members overall, but doesn’t break out membership by ages group, Johson said. City CarShare has about 6,200 members, 1,383 members who are in the baby boomer range.  This constitutes 22 percent of its total membership.

Broadly speaking, baby boomers represent just one area in which City CarShare could increase its membership, Ms. Daly said. The company hopes to grow membership with people of all age ranges and diversity, she added.

Word of mouth and the prevalance of car-sharing vehicles on city streets is a huge marketing tool for providers. In addition, the recent film “An Inconvenient Truth,” which heightened awareness of global warming, is also raising awareness of car-sharing services and their ability to promote greener lifestyles, Ms. Daly said. 

Overall, car-sharing has become popular with urbanites of all ages for a variety of reasons: it trims carbon dioxide emissions, improves urban living by way of fresher air and fewer parking hassles, and saves some dough, according to a report by the Institute of Urban and Regional Development at the University of California at Berkeley.

Dollars & Sense
For example, while the average City CarShare member spends $540 per year to drive 435 miles, car owners typically shell out more than $5,000 annually to drive the same distance with a compact car, according to City CarShare.

Fees among service providers can vary depending on factors such as the city in which members reside. After a $30 application fee and $300 refundable security deposit, City CarShare members pay membership dues of $10 a month, plus $4 an hour and 44 cents per mile for most cars in our fleet. Gas and insurance are included.

By comparison, Zipcar members in San Francisco, for example, can avail themselves to two options: the extra value plan, or zip as you go for occasional drivers. The value plans start with a $50 commitment per month, and once that is used up, members pay at least $7.65 an hour. With the zip as you go in the DC area, there’s a $50 annual commitment, but no monthly fee. And users pay about $9 an hour. Both options charge $25 application fee, while gas, parking and insurance are included.

“It’s very economical,” said Bill Conklin, 84, a part-time architect and planner. Prior to signing up for ZipCar four years ago, Mr. Conklin and his wife Barbara rented cars on the weekends for short trips or errands. But that option became “quite a hassle” due to costs and the inconvenience of being 20 blocks from the rental agency, he said.

“I think our lifestyle is integrated with (car-sharing),” he said. “We have a parking garage in the building with our condo, but ZipCar is far more convenient because I don’t have to worry about gas and oil. That’s all taken care of.”

Not to mention that the ZipCar fleet offers “more interesting cars,” than car rental agencies, said Barbara Conklin, 82. Ms. Conklin said she and her husband tend to favor a red Mini Cooper typically parked in a “pod” near their condominium.

By nature, car-sharing encourages efficiency. Members tend to parcel out errand driving during an afternoon, rather than taking separate trips throughout the week, Mr. Johnson said.

Also attractive is car-sharing’s ability to promote a healthy urban lifestyle, said Marcia Weisbrot, a boomer, artist and designer in San Francisco. She has been without a car for about a decade, relying instead on her bicycle, public transportation and car-sharing through City CarShare.

“San Francisco is just so crowded,” she said. “I really like that I don’t contribute to the congestion.”