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.

New location next to UB South Campus!

Starting the week of October 5th, a 5-door Toyota Yaris will have a new home in the parking lot behind St. Joeseph University Church! St. Joe's is located at 3269 Main St., adjacent to UB's Townsend Lot. Become a CarShare member here!

We've done it! 100 members!

Our 100th member was registered this morning! Be the 101st!

Sign up before Labor Day and receive your first trip free!*

*Up to a $25.00 value.