\u201cThey find a gap in the market that sees rental cars as a commodity,\u201d said Rick Garlick, who heads the global travel and hospitality practice at J. D. Power.<\/p>\n
Still, with Uber facing headwinds in some cities, and being viewed askance by some corporate travel departments, at least one expert says that car-sharing companies like Zipcar are poised for growth.<\/p>\n
Martyn Briggs, industry principal at Frost & Sullivan, a market research company, predicts that by 2020 there will be 26 million car-sharing users worldwide, up from five million in 2014 \u2014 drawn by the technology, environmental consciousness and convenience of cars that can be rented for an hour or less.<\/p>\n
For example, Zipcar, acquired by Avis in 2013, started out operating on or near college campuses. Now, its 10,000 vehicles may also be parked at an airport or in a garage next to a suburban train station. Enterprise CarShare has about 30 urban locations nationwide and is also on college campuses. Its cars are an integral part of the Enterprise fleet. Car2go, owned by Daimler, has 5,000 vehicles, all of them two-seater Smart Fortwo cars, in 10 cities in the United States. And DriveNow, a joint venture of BMW and the European rental car company Sixt, is currently available in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
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A recent convert to car-sharing is Maya Ovrutsky, who uses one of the 450 Smart Fortwo vehicles parked on the streets of Brooklyn. She was offered a free registration last fall. A one-time sign-up fee is typically $35.<\/p>\n
While Ms. Ovrutsky, a manager for a nonprofit legal group, commutes to Manhattan on public transportation, Car2go is for personal use. With pricing at 41 cents a minute, it\u2019s a reasonable alternative to Uber or taxis, she said. Most of her rentals are a half-hour or less and she does not have to return the car to its original location. The hourly rate is $14.99.<\/p>\n
By comparison, Zipcar offers three categories of membership in New York and New Jersey. With a $70 annual membership, or monthly fee of $7, the rates start at $9.25 an hour; with $50 prepaid, rates start at $8.33. Rates differ by location and type of vehicle. Enterprise CarShare rates range from $7 to $18 an hour in New York.<\/p>\n
Still, Ms. Ovrutsky said, the rental process is not always as straightforward as she would like.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe app can be a bit buggy and there are radio and GPS options on the touch screen, but I\u2019ve never been able to really adjust any of that,\u201d she wrote in an email. And at times, New York\u2019s complex street parking regulations can be confusing.<\/p>\n
Martin H. Duke, editor in chief of the Seattle Transit Blog<\/em>, said he supplemented commuting on Seattle\u2019s mass transit system with Car2go when he was in a hurry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a huge time advantage for driving,\u201d Mr. Duke said. And while he has also used Zipcar, he said that a monthly fee and the need to return the car to its original location made that a less desirable option for him.<\/p>\n Employees need to make sure their car-share choice passes muster with their corporate travel department, experts noted.<\/p>\n \u201cCorporate policies haven\u2019t caught up to the marketplace,\u201d said Michael W. McCormick, executive director of the Global Business Travel Association. He said that nearly 25 percent of companies had policies that did not allow their employees to use Uber or its competitors.<\/p>\n Employees also need to determine whether a specific company serves their destination.<\/p>\n There are limits to the growth of alternative rental companies. Car2go, for example, ended its operation in Eugene, Ore., in June. And Hertz recently announced it was closing its domestic car-sharing business, called Hertz 24\/7.<\/p>\n As popular as car-sharing might become, said Mr. Briggs, the Frost & Sullivan analyst, there are limits to its appeal. \u201cIn areas of high car ownership, with little or no congestion and ample parking,\u201d he said, \u201cthere\u2019s no problem to be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n