Rochester car-sharing service offers the flexibility of having a car — minus the cost of owning one
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic: From April 15 through June 30, 2020, HOURCAR is offering a special promotion for nonprofits in Rochester that provide social services. Additional details can be found here.
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Rachel Ruiz, a first-year medical student at the University of Minnesota Rochester, is one of many downtown dwellers looking for reliable ways out of the city center. She doesn’t need a car most of the time; but when she does, a reliable vehicle is hard to find and other options have their pitfalls.
“Public transit only operates during certain hours,” says Ruiz, “so if I had to go somewhere late at night, that option isn’t there. I wouldn’t be able to.”
Instead of hailing a taxi or using a third-party ride-sharing service to move around town, Ruiz chose HOURCAR, a new service to Rochester that puts you in the driver’s seat. Jump through a couple hoops (clean driving record? Insurable? You’re good to go), register online, and Rochester’s fleet of HOURCAR vehicles are at your disposal, available at four different hubs around downtown. For about $10 per hour, the road is yours, for up to three days — without surge pricing, delayed buses, or any of the costs of owning and parking a vehicle (gas and insurance are included).
Owning a ‘fraction of a vehicle’
HOURCAR CEO Paul Schroeder said the idea spawned in Minneapolis over 15 years ago, before Uber and Lyft rose to dominate the ride-sharing landscape. It was about bridging the gap for people who would consider shedding a car, he says — but in the years since, the focus has shifted to include people who simply can’t afford a car in the first place.
“We make it possible to own a fraction of a vehicle at a fraction of the cost,” says Schroeder. “Our mission is about maximizing options, to facilitate a car-free or ‘car-lite’ lifestyle.”
Being an HOURCAR member gives people like Ruiz the ability to get out of town when she needs to, while avoiding the added costs of owning a car. It’s important, she says, to have that flexibility, especially when she needs to purchase daily essentials that aren’t available downtown.
“It’s just a lot easier, for shopping especially, but just to have the freedom to go anywhere,” Ruiz says.
The benefits of car-sharing
Owning a car, on one hand, provides flexibility that other methods of transportation simply can’t offer. On the other hand, though, lies the extensive network of costs that come after the initial purchase. Gas, routine maintenance, insurance, and registration are all required on a regular basis, not to mention exorbitant repair costs in the case of an accident and parking concerns in metropolitan centers. Meanwhile, the car depreciates in value, guaranteeing a sunk cost at the end of the day.
Most people get left with a decision: do I save the money and sacrifice flexibility, or do I bite the bullet and be handed the open road at a cost? With HOURCAR, the script gets flipped, and its users get the best of both worlds.
In Rachel’s case, she primarily uses HOURCAR for shopping, but also occasionally picks friends up from work and uses it to get around town. It gives her the option to explore all of Rochester and get to the places she wants to go, without having to rely on anyone but herself.
“I’m not from Minnesota, and without my own car here, it makes things so much easier,” said Ruiz. “I don’t have to worry about limiting how much I buy at the grocery store based on what I can carry. I don’t have to worry about an Uber taking me somewhere — I can do it myself.”
For more information on HOURCAR, visit their website.
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