Thursday, April 4, 2002 • Vol 8, Issue 7
Flexcar ends his 'crazy-making'
With vehicles in Yale lot, near Met East/West and around the city, Flexcar makes it possible to get by without owning a car
By CLAY EALS
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PHOTO BY GORDON TODD
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| Steven Wakefield of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network says the Flexcar vehicle that's handy in the Yale Building parking lot, plus others stationed around the city, have made it possible for him not to own a car. |
In Chicago, Steven Wakefield didn't own a vehicle. The city's elevated trains and a neighbor's car gave him all the transportation he needed.
Then, two years ago, he moved to Seattle, taking a job as community-education director for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network at Met West. At first, he feared he would have to buy a car but hoped he could get by without one. He saved up all of his car-related errands, and, on one day each month, he rented a car to do them.
"It was really crazy-making," he said. "I had to squeeze about 10 errands into one day. Or if I wasn't feeling well and had to go to the doctor, I had to take a taxi. It was hard to have control over my time."
But then came Flexcar, the car-sharing program that operates in Seattle, Portland and Washington D.C. Just before Christmas 2000, Wakefield gave himself a Flexcar introduction package as a gift. Since then, he's been environmentally and transportationally happy as a clam.
Throughout Seattle area
Flexcar positions shared vehicles throughout the Seattle area, including one in the Yale Building parking lot, another that's two blocks from Met West next to REI and several others near Wakefield's Capitol Hill home. The cars, new-model, four-door sedans in good running condition, are available pretty much whenever Wakefield wants one.
"With Flexcar, I can get a car for one hour, I don't have to have car insurance or buy gasoline, and there's no worry about a parking space," he said.
"Let's say I go to the dentist. I can leave the office 15-20 minutes before the dental appointment, have my teeth cleaned, they'll reimburse me for parking, and I come back to work and put the car back in the Flexcar parking space.
"It's increased my ability to get things done without taking a full day off or having one appointment dictate how I spend entire work day."
His Flexcar cost: a $5 initiation fee (with Hutch Pass) and a monthly expenses that average under $40. For the months in which he doesn't use a Flexcar, he pays nothing.
"That's a lot less than a car payment or car rental and parking-space rental," he said. "I travel quite a bit. If I owned a car, it would sit in the garage more than half the time, so I save a lot on expenses."
Flexcar details
Can Flexcar work for you? The Center's Transportation Department would like you to find out. You can find the details at http://www.flexcar.com.
As Wakefield noted: "With the free Hutch Pass as a benefit of working here, plus Flexcar, I may never have to own a car again."
