Dear Friends and Supporters,
As you may know, we recently lost a bid to become the University at Buffalo’s exclusive car sharing provider. Throughout the process, many of you leant us your kind words and stuck up for the values that we think CarShare represents. Many of you expressed what we couldn’t, and let UB know the importance of supporting the local economy. For that, we are incredibly grateful and honored by your praise.
We want to clear a few things up that we’ve noticed circulating the rumor mill. First of all, we’re going to continue to grow as we have in the past. We’re about to pass the 200 member mark, and next week we’ll be adding a truck to our fleet. As we hit our first anniversary in June, we’ll have grown to a ten vehicle fleet, expanding our network in the West Side and the Elmwood Village. We’ll also be reaching out to the region’s colleges as we grow, including Buffalo State, Canisius, D’Youville, and ECC.
On a personal note, we’re not going to be holding a grudge. We do think that the decision to go with an out-of-state provider is short sighted and reflects poorly on the foundational argument for UB2020. That said, we see infinite opportunity for “knowledge capital” being generated by hardworking, passionate students at not only UB, but the other great institutions mentioned above. As we pursue research aimed at tackling barriers to car sharing in low-income communities, we’ll continue to reach out to students interested in internships and volunteer opportunities. It’s how this non-profit launched and how it will continue to thrive; commitments from people, not institutions.
Lastly, we want to point out that we have been and will continue to offer premium, personal service at a competitive price. There is a myth out there that the corporate giant always offers a better deal, and it’s often not true. In this case, we’re actually cheaper than the competition for many drivers.
So with all that in mind, we welcome the competition to town. Good luck Zipcar, you’ll need it!
Sincerely,
The Buffalo CarShare Team
