Car sharing can cut costs

On average, car owners who drive about 10,000 miles per year spend approximately $6,000 per year on their vehicles. That’s including gas, insurance, car maintenance, and other costs to owning a car.

It can be expensive, which is why the volunteer based organization Ashland Car Share has been providing it’s members access to vehicles for one sixth the cost of owning a vehicle for a year

For the last three years ACS has been allowing members 24/7 access to cars that people sign up to share. Their Web site: (www.ashlandcarshare.com), reports that the typical car share user spends about $600-$1,000 per year for access to a car.

“Ashland Car Share can save you…$6000 to about $8000 per year,” said Michael Sheats, an ACS board member.

“By going though a car share, people are contributing to helping the environment and our community,” Sheats said.

“Not only are the members splitting the cost among other members of the car share, but they are also helping the environment,” Sheats said.

“Instead of everyone owning their own car, all of our members are sharing their cars and driving less,” Sheats said.

ACS has two different options for members, the Share a Lot plan or Share a Little plan. The Share a Lot plan costs members $25 a month with the additional costs of $3.95 per hour in the vehicle and 30 cents per mile. The share a little plan doesn’t have a monthly fee but costs $7.95 per hour and 30 cents a mile. A complete list of rates is available on the ACS Web site.

Founder of ACS, Becky Brown, made the decision to live car-free in 2007. The change of pace led Brown to starting ACS and she has been in business ever since

“I discovered that my kids and I didn’t need a car. I found it was pretty easy to get around in Ashland,” Brown said.

After her discovery, Brown began to research car sharing throughout the U.S. and came across the non-profit, educational group carshare.net. The group helped Brown set her fee and get ACS rolling in Southern Oregon.

“With a lot of cars already out there on the road, to me car sharing just makes sense. It’s an opportunity for people to have access to a car without having to own one themselves,” Brown said

There are several ACS ports located near the SOU campus and ACS offers a 50 percent membership fee discount to SOU students.

“Sometimes I see students arriving on campus without their own car, ACS would allow them to have access to a car,” she said.

“It’s not the idea of not having your own car, but rather it’s the idea of sharing it with other people,” Brown said.