CarShare celebrates the end of a strong 2010

It's hard to believe we've come this far, but we're happy to report that Buffalo CarShare is now over 300 members strong. With 10 cars and a pickup truck, we're well on our way to becoming a staple in this fair city.

Looking forward to an exciting 2011, we wanted to drop a few hints of what's to come and reflect on this year's success. We hope you'll join us at our 2nd Annual Winter Banquet tomorrow (12/17) to hear more (details at the end of this post).

Looking back at 2010:

• We were able to purchase a Ford F-150 pickup truck thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. This truck is available to non-profit organizations like the Massachusetts Avenue Project and the YWCA, which use it for everything from loading up compost to moving furniture (although not at the same time). Thanks to this grant, 12 non-profits organizations have been able to expand their good work without taking on the burden of purchasing their own truck - instead they share one.

• While we bid for rights to operate on UB North and South Campus, it wasn't in the cards. Luckily, we found a good neighbor in Canisius College, who shares our vision for a service that meets the needs of both the campus and community. To date, 15 students, faculty and staff and 11 Hamlin Park residents now utilize the car parked at Jefferson and Delavan. We hope to expand this program in the Spring.

• We also launched three more cars this summer, bringing our fleet to 11, including another Yaris, a Toyota Prius hybrid, and a Mazda 5 Minivan. Our membership has grown to over 300 in just 18 months, and we're happy to report (based on a Feb. 2010 survey) that we have arguably the most diverse member base of any car sharing organization in the nation, in terms of age, race, and income. This member base was also able to considerably reduce their environmental footprint. We're committed to a vision for affordable, community-based green transportation that works for just about everyone - see all of the hubs.

Looking ahead to 2011, we hope to do a few things:

• Expand college partnerships. While we grow to meet demand from new members, we hope to work with area colleges to become an option for students looking to minimize the cost of a college education.
• Increase services to businesses and non profits. We expect demand to continue to increase for our truck, but also see potential for downtown businesses that are exploring ways to help "green" their workforce. In addition, there are a plethora of small non-profit organizations in need of a truck or van from time to time. We hope to add these “specialty” vehicles as demand grows.
• Develop a partnership with BNMC and Green Options Buffalo, including creation of a city-wide bicycle sharing system (think Buffalo Blue Bicycle 2.0). Our vision is that CarShare and bike share could integrated into one seamless system.
• Grow our service to reflect diversity of neighborhoods in which we operate, not just diversity among our membership base. The Lower West Side, Kensington-Bailey, and North Buffalo are all neighborhoods where expansion may soon be viable.

While we may not accomplish everything on this list in the next 12 months, we will press ahead on all points. If you're looking to get involved, we're always in need of volunteers and are recruiting for spring internships. We're also seeking partners to help us expand to new neighborhoods when it gets a little warmer. Give us a ring or an email, we'd love to hear from you.

Lastly, we hope to see you at our banquet Friday night! Join us for drinks at 6pm if you can't stay for dinner.

CarShare Winter Banquet - Presented by Northtown Automotive

When: Friday (12/17)
Where: The Eights (888 Main Street)
Happy Hour: 6pm - 7:30; $3 drafts, $4 wine - donations encouraged
Dinner (really more like a feast): 7:30 - 10; $20 for members, $30 for non-members (tickets required)

Dishes will include Vegan Pad Thai, Eggplant Parmesan, Enchiladas, Roasted Turkey, and much more!

Come on by to learn more and meet our staff and members. If you'd like to stay for dinner, please reserve your ticket by calling us at 898-0850.

CarShare grows with community support

The evolution of Buffalo CarShare to has been made possible largely due to investment from both individual members and community organizations. The launch of our recent “hubs” and others have been made possible thanks to forward-thinking institutions, non-profits and local business owners. We hope that, being strengthened by this community, we can grow to become a service that is affordable and accessible to all buffalonians. Here is the story of these collaborations:

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church – Elmwood and Lafayette

Thanks to the vision of Rev. Drew Ludwig and others at the Church, residents of the Elmwood Village now have access to a hybrid Toyota Prius just down the street. The Church has contributed a parking space, and the service fits into a larger theme of breathing new life into an old structure.

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) – Washington Street

The BNMC, a non-profit institution has continued to accommodate CarShare as it grows. The hub behind the Allen-Medical NFTA station is provided by the BNMC and now features a Ford F-150 truck and a Mazda5 minivan. The truck was donated by the Community Foundation, and serves several non-profit organizations including the Massachusetts Avenue Project, Grassroots Gardens, Buffalo ReUse, and the YWCA. Our hope is that the new minivan will be useful to these agencies as well.

Quaker Bonnet Bakery – Chenango and Rhode Island

Having already hosted one of our hubs (at their Eatery on Allen), Quaker Bonnet was happy to accommodate a second hub for us on the West Side. The bakery and restaurant, dating back to 1932, are a great example of what a local business can provide for a community.

Canisius College – Delavan and Jefferson

When approached by us this spring about hosting a CarShare hub, Canisius staff immediately took hold of the concept and recognized our potential to serve both the campus and surrounding community. Having provided us parking adjacent to the Delavan NFTA station, our hope is that this hub will be used by students, faculty, and staff as well as Hamlin Park residents and NFTA riders along the Delavan line.

Massachusetts Avenue Project – Grant St. Neighborhood Center

Having launched service at the former Grant St. library last fall, the hub really became viable this spring with the help of the Mass. Ave. Project, who uses the service to support their Mobile Market program, which brings fresh produce to neighborhoods around the city that lack access to healthy food. The Mass. Ave. Project also has utilized the truck to help build their new greenhouse.

Our growth and success is truly tied to investments like this, where community members recognize that by working with Buffalo CarShare they can stretch budgets farther, encourage healthy transportation choices, and broaden the reach of the resources we all share.

To us, every new vehicle represents an opportunity to collaborate. Our door is always open, so please reach out if you think there’s an opportunity to work together.

-- Check out our latest hub locations and vehicle additions here --

First Year Impacts Summary – Buffalo CarShare

Click here to download this report as a .pdf.

Analysis of our first annual member survey shows that our members drive an average of 300 miles less per year. (The survey, which was completed by 80 out of 144 members at the time (a 56% response rate), asked a variety of questions about usage, satisfaction with service, and member demographics. Buffalo CarShare will conduct this survey again in early 2011, at which point we expect to have between 350 and 400 members to survey.) Five (5) respondents were able to give up a car after joining, and 30 others either decided not to purchase a car or postponed purchasing a car once becoming members. These responses show we’re able to help take 11 private cars off the road for every CarShare car in our fleet. These shared cars are often far more fuel efficient that the cars they replace.

Based on membership growth, we can estimate than we’ve helped our members drive about 42,000 fewer miles than they would have without our service during the first year of our operation. This means members pumped 1900 fewer gallons of gas and avoided emitting 36,700 lbs of carbon dioxide. (Sources: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. and Energy Information Administration)

Interestingly, more members stated that they drove more after joining (23 respondents or 29%) than reported driving less after joining (19 respondents or 24%).

However, as the distribution at right shows, additional mileage of those who drove more was offset nearly 2-1 by those who drove less. On average, the former drove only 22 miles more per week, while the latter drove 51 miles less per week than before joining (on average).

Of the 23 respondents stating that they drove more, 16 had no household vehicle before joining. Anecdotally, many of our members report not having owned a vehicle for many years before joining. The potential of our service to enhance mobility is a topic of intensive study for us, so stay tuned.

Click here to download this report as a .pdf.

BCS Member Survey Results

The results from our member survey are in!
What follows are some charts and graphs that describe our members and their opinions about our service:

Member Satisfaction
	Satisfied or Very Satisfied	Dissatisfied or Very Dissatisfied
[The price]	85%	9%
[Choice of vehicles (makes/models)]	93%	6%
[Cleanliness of the vehicles]	96%	1%
[General condition of vehicles (age, miles on car)]	98%	0%
[Availability of vehicles]	91%	5%
[Location of vehicles]	86%	13%
[Making reservations online]	89%	5%
[Making reservations by phone]	78%	3%
[Contact you’ve had with us by phone]	89%	1%
[Overall, how would you rate our service?]	99%	0%

This next bar graph suggests that, of 80 responses, there are 38 less cars on the road because of BCS membership!

The following graph shows that survey respondents most commonly used the BCS service for grocery shopping.

This pie chart shows the primary reasons that people became members of Buffalo CarShare:

This is the age breakdown of our members:

The median age is 37.

Friends and Supporters

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

Press Conference tomorrow 4/1

Join us for our press conference tomorrow (4/1) at 10am to launch our new hub at Elmwood and Utica.

Details are below. In addition to Buffalo CarShare, speakers will include:

• Justin Azzarella for Elmwood Village Association
• Newell Nussbaumer for Horizon Realty
• David Rivera - Buffalo Common Council Member
• Office of Bonnie Russell - Buffalo Common Council Member
  
• Office of Sam Hoyt - NYS Assembly Member
• Amy Kedron for Buffalo First

See you at 261 West Utica tomorrow morning!

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Media Advisory

With nearly 200 members and seven vehicles, Buffalo CarShare (BCS) is ready to expand once again. As the ground warms, the non-profit organization is announcing a new vehicle hub located at the corner of West Utica and Elmwood. CarShare hopes to add 3 new vehicles this spring – including a truck – with the help of partners in the region.

The new hub on West Utica, the second on the Elmwood Strip, was made possible through a parking space donated by Horizon Realty, a property management company well known to the Elmwood area. The other BCS hub on Elmwood is two blocks south at Brent Manor Apartments.

As CarShare grows, it has cultivated partnerships with other non-profits such as Grassroots Gardens and the Massachusetts Avenue Project, which will help make possible the addition of a truck for use by these organizations as well as CarShare members. In addition, Buffalo CarShare looks forward to partnerships with area institutions such as the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the area’s colleges and universities. In that spirit, the non-profit recently responded to a Request for Proposals for car sharing services from the University at Buffalo.

UB & Buffalo CarShare

As some of you may know, the University at Buffalo is currently searching for a car sharing vendor to service students, faculty, and staff on all three of its campuses. As the local, non-profit car sharing provider, Buffalo CarShare has submitted a bid.

We're extremely excited at the possibility of serving members of the UB community both on and off campus, including many of our existing members. However, at the present time, we feel it would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing Request for Proposals process.

We appreciate that UB has a very complex decision to make, and are confident that it will act in keeping with the spirit of UB2020 and in the best interests of students, faculty, staff, and the Greater Buffalo community.

Stay tuned for the latest updates as they become available.