4 Remarkable Facts You Didn't Know About Car Share Programs

Owning a car takes a backseat to car sharing. Well-organized city car share programs make getting around simple by augmenting existing public transportation. There are four facts you probably didn't know about this type of eco-friendly automotive experience.

1. They are now on college campuses. The University of South Florida has introduced the WeCar program. Students may choose between a Nissan Cube and Honda Civic. Hourly rental fees run between $7.50 and $9 in 2011. Rent the car between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., and spend $22.50. Keep it for the whole day, and be prepared to hand over $70. USF rents cars to youngsters under the age of 21 -- an under-served demographic -- and even offers reserved parking spaces on campus. For the occasional quick trip across town or night out, car sharing is the alternative to owning and maintaining a vehicle on a student's budget.

2. They are part of an international movement. Car sharing companies are not a uniquely American niche. Zen Car has brought the concept of shared conveyances to Brussels, Belgium. The fleet of 29 cars consists of plug-in electric vehicles. Participants pay a 40-euro membership fee, a six-euro monthly cost and spend seven euros for each 60 minutes of actual driving time. The company operates 15 charging stations around Brussels, which allows drivers to drop off the cars or just charge them.

3. They exist as alliances between car makers and real estate developers. Case in point is Toyota, which announced that two condo complexes in Tokyo and one such development in the Aichi Prefecture will receive two Prii each. Rather than operating a city car share scheme, Toyota and the condo developers Nomura Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. as well as Toyota Housing Corporation and Daikyo Incorporated are spearheading this movement. The program will start in 2012, at which time another company will have built suitable car ports for the plug-in hybrids.

4. They are coming to a metropolitan city near you. San Diego is at the center of an agreement between car2go and ECOtality. The latter has announced that 300 electric cars will turn San Diego's care share program into the "largest fleet of EVs in the United States." Supporting this car share program will be 1,000 charging stations in and around San Diego. The program is said to be ready for public access during the latter part of 2011.

If emission-free driving is on your list of things to do -- and if you would like to kick the proverbial tires on an electric vehicle before buying one yourself -- then car share programs might just be the (more and more ubiquitous) answer.