Member Testimonial: Tim White

In 2007, I gave up car ownership for the adventures and cost savings of biking, walking, and using public transit across Western New York. In 2012, I was promoted to the role of Marketing Coordinator at Theatre of Youth (TOY), Buffalo's only professional theatre dedicated solely to child audiences. While TOY is an exceptional company to work for with great co-workers and good benefits, the wage I earn is typical of most non-profit administrators. On my salary, I can't reasonably afford reliable car ownership. Yet, for my job I often need to travel to the outer suburbs for meetings, promoting at events, distributing lawn signs, putting up posters, etc. As you can imagine, Buffalo CarShare quickly became the perfect solution for my needs.

Buffalo CarShare provides me with the expanded reach that I need as a professional. Just this past Wednesday, I reserved a CarShare and visited Sweet Home middle school in Amherst to speak with teachers about bringing their students to the theatre. Without Buffalo CarShare, I wouldn't have been able to reach the school and I wouldn't have been able to transport all of the flyers, brochures, and equipment that I needed for the job.

Buffalo CarShare is not only essential for my work; but it has also allowed me to live a rich and vibrant lifestyle on a modest income. I know for a fact that the majority of the dollars I would have sunk into car ownership are being poured right back into our local economy. I love that I live in a city where I have enough disposable income left over to pay for the amazing music, art, theatre, and food that Buffalo's talented citizens create.

With some of the savings that CarShare affords me, I recently took up my lifelong dream of learning to play the cello. When I need to transport my cello, Buffalo CarShare is there for me. If my cello needs repair or maintenance, I simply reserve a CarShare and whisk the unwieldy instrument to Monaco's, a specialty strings shop in Getzville. In this example alone, every dollar I'm not spending on car ownership is staying in our local economy; whether it's for the lessons that a local professional cellist gives me or for the family-owned shop that rents out and maintains my cello.

In closing, losing Buffalo CarShare would be detrimental to my adventurous low-cost lifestyle. I have loved living in Buffalo over the last several years, but losing Buffalo CarShare could be a deal-breaker for me. If the city of Buffalo and the state of New York can't find a way to continue to support my simple and environmentally responsible lifestyle, if the state of New York refuses to pass insurance legislation that encourages the kind of brilliant grassroots innovation that Buffalo CarShare represents; then I will simply take my entire future, potential family, friends, taxable earnings, and home ownership to another growing city in another state.

I hope it doesn't come to that.

Thank you to the entire staff of CarShare for continuing to fight for an incredible service that truly makes a huge impact on the lives of its members and on our community as a whole. You have my support.

Tim White - Member since June 2012