Zip Car

I tried and tried to copy and paste a chart that showed the different plans a person can have when using a car share service called Zip Car. When I finally found one that worked I realized it wasn't in Canadian dollars! So suffice it to say that most rental plans worked out to be about $7.00 per hour. Some a bit less, some a bit more. That also includes insurance and gas.

While visiting my brother yesterday he told me about a friend's experience with Zip Car that left me thinking that it might not be for me...a broken key fob, a gas card that didn't work, damage to the cars that doesn't get fixed, dog hair and garbage left in the vehicles and so on. I have yet to try the one that is near me - it's a Prius and I have walked by it to see how it looked. There was a little bit of damage to the plastic over one of the headlights and the inside looked clean. We are allowed to "test drive" the service for one month so I think I'll do that in October, after my trip, before making any kind of a commitment.

A couple of people have been encouraging me to try the bus and I have found that there are a number of buses nearby that would be very handy and when I looked at the London Transit website I noted that at age 65 the price of a ticket really drops. So I am reconsidering the city bus system.  Once winter settles in I promise to ride the bus a few times.

There was also an article in the paper today which made me look more favourably on our bus system. A driver picked up a young woman, late at night, who was being harassed by a man at the bus stop. He managed to redirect the man and then went off route to take her right to her home. Apparently the transit system has declared buses to be "safe havens" and encourage anyone encountering any type of problem - violence, sexual assault, robbery etc - to find and board a bus. The drivers are trained to deal with these situations and to provide safety and transportation to an area or building where the victim feels safe. Wow - I felt really impressed by that!

Another positive fact about buses is that many of them (I'm not sure about ALL buses) have a bike rack on the front so for long distance rides I could use a mix of bike and bus. That's pretty cool! So London Transit has risen in my estimation.

See? I may be old but I'm not stuck in my ways!

So, here's my chart - a very simple chart. It shows the cost of using Zip Car vs Enterprise vs bus.

Vehicle                    Time used                       Cost
Zip Car                        1 hour/24 hours            $7.00/$72
Enterprise                    24 hours                       $19
Bus                              1 trip (varies)               $1.90 per ticket (includes a 90 minute transfer)

Zip Car is best for short trips like getting groceries or going to a store/location that is way the hell across the city. Depending on how much time I want to use I could choose between Zip Car or city bus. ($1.90 vs $7.00 or $14.00 or more depending on the distance and amount of time spent there.) Enterprise is better for longer trips ($19 vs $72) There is no ONE solution but a combination of types of transportation, including of course, me feet and my bicycle.