Tuesday, July 20, 2010

NY Times covers Hoboken Hertz Corner Cars Program - Hoboken 411 Twitters Negativity


Just last weekend, the NY Times covered the Hertz Corner Car Program in Hoboken. Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

"The program, called Corner Cars, is based on the rent-by-the-hour model that companies like Zipcar and Hertz have been offering for years. In other cities, however, those cars are stored deep in parking garages or clustered in a few neighborhoods. Hoboken’s shared cars are parked on the street, in special bright green spots that appear every few blocks so they are never far out of sight or mind.

......

All in all, it’s about as convenient as car rental could ever be."

To read the full story click on the link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/nyregion/18critic.html?_r=1

One Hoboken Journal reader had sent me an email that Hoboken 411 had twittered a response to the article in the NY Times, the title of his/her email was "Quick! Someone call the Waaahhhmmbulance!". Once again Glenn Beck supporter Perry Klaussen of Hoboken 411 can't stand a governmental and commercial initiative that actually might have a chance to succeed. The NY Times article referred to the initiative as an experiment so there is always a chance that it won't work but clearly this website proprietor wants this program to fail. Why? What could be his motivation?

Perry Klaussen of Hoboken 411 on Twitter (it's for twits):

http://twitter.com/Hoboken411/statuses/18875406282

"Hey @nytimes - Zip Cars have been here for years, nothing revolutionary - also no one is giving up their cars for Hertz -http://ow.ly/2daqm

My comment: 

Whether or not Hertz Corner cars is for you or not depends on your situation. I think the program is flexible enough to work if the demand will come. People will start to think about the cost of car ownership and move over to the sharing model if it works for them financially, in terms of convenience and even type of car.  In the meantime, only a very small fraction of parking spaces are being utilized. Give the program a chance and if it doesn't work then cut it back. In order to gauge whether or not Hertz corner Cars will I will duly note that Zip Car is still around and has been so for years. If Zip Car wasn't working financially for the company who runs it, it would have closed down already. ◦
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Katie_Scarlett's avatar

Katie_Scarlett · 765 weeks ago

My lease is up next June. I drive a sweet ride, but I'm thinking to save money I may do corner cars or zip cars for a few months to test if I really need a car. Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.
Just saw my new corner car a block away this weekend. Can't wait to use it. Kudos to Ian and his innovative work. Last night's meeting at Multi-Service Center was well intended, with quite a few interesting ideas floated.
Even though I have a car already I signed up and used it. It is a great backup for less than what you would have to pay for a cab.
Here's my question for Beejay or SS1959 (since you signed up) -- would you rent this for a weekend trip or would you just use this for trips to the store or wherever for a few hours?

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