In the last several years, Boulder and Denver have seen an influx of car sharing programs. The idea is simple and sustainable: park a fleet of eco-friendly cars around the city and let people “rent” the cars for an hour or two to go run errands that might otherwise be a bit of a pain without a set of four wheels. It’s much more affordable than renting a car for an entire day, and the stations around town, typically make it accessible for most.
As stated above, car sharing seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. That is, until you find out a little bit more about eGo CarShare. This locally grown company was founded in 1997, which, to some, might feel like an entire lifetime ago. The company started as “The Little Red Car Co-Op” and the original participants physically passed a key around between one another (since the internet at the time was mostly geocities pages and animated sparkle gifs).
Of course, Boulder is a great fit for entrepreneurs, especially when they’re keeping sustainability and eco-friendly practices in mind. Thanks to the city of Boulder being built for people using all modes of transportation, it’s easier for many people to get away with not owning a car, making eGo CarShare the perfect fit when carless folks need more wheels than two to run some errands.
Being a native to Boulder, eGo CarShare has partnered with a lot of great Boulder businesses to benefit drivers even more.
- Students and teachers benefit from the free parking in designated campus parking spots for both CU Boulder and Naropa.
- They’ve partnered with Boulder B-cycle to provide them a truck for towing the bikes to be rebalanced and then other members can use the truck when they’re done using it.
- Parking spaces are also provided by Boulder County, McGuckins, Gold Run Condos and Lucky’s Market
- They also have an all-electric Nissan Leaf available for all City of Boulder employees to use and any existing members.
Plus, as a bonus to those of you who own a car, but don’t use it all that often, eGo CarShare offers a Loanation Program in which owners who have cars that meet the requirements can add their car to the fleet. What do you get out of it? eGo pays for your car insurance, maintenance and a good chunk of the gas.
YourBoulder readers that are interested in giving this rapidly growing, Boulder-based business a try can sign up with a discount by using the code “YBReader.”
Driving green while saving green? You really can’t go wrong with that combination!
