Car-sharing company eyes Nashville expansion

Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft arrived in Nashville more than a year ago, giving competition to the traditional taxi cab.

Now, another alternative to get around town could be poised for a major expansion in Nashville — car-sharing.

Austin-based Car2Go, a car-sharing company that targets rapidly growing urban areas, is planning to make Nashville one of its latest markets if the Metro Council gives final approval later this month for legislation critical to its operations.

"Nashville's completely booming," said Adrianne Wright, the company's communications director. "It's a high-dense area. There's lot of really progressive people there.

"It's now just making sure that everybody's in the loop and understands what the service is all about and feels comfortable with having us there."

Instead of using phones to fetch a ride from a stranger, the car-sharing concept of Car2Go enables the person needing a lift to find a car parked on the street and then drive it themselves. The Metro bill would let drivers leave car-sharing vehicles at street parking spaces within designated zones after they get to their destination. Accessing the car door and paying is done on one's smartphone. They key is left inside the vehicle.

The company, which has worked with Mayor Karl Dean's office to help with its expansion, is eying 200 environmentally friendly, blue and white Smart Cars to begin in Nashville. Car2Go would also launch a Nashville office with about a dozen employees.

An ordinance sponsored by Belmont-Hillsboro Councilwoman Burkley Allen — which the council gave preliminary approval on a second of three votes Tuesday — would establish a "free-floating car share" pilot program to allow permitted car-sharing vehicles to park in the public right-of-way. In exchange companies, including Car2Go, must pay parking meter fees to Metrocars on an annual basis for all its cars.

The ordinance would not be exclusive to Car2Go, though it would be the first to take advantage.

"I saw it in Seattle, and I have a Smart Car, and I thought, 'That's the coolest thing I've ever seen. We need that,' " Allen said. "It's just one more type of car-sharing. If you ride the bus downtown, for example, and discover in the middle of the day that you need need to get to 100 Oaks, and the bus doesn't go there, now you've got an option.

"The parking fee would not have to be paid by the person who's driving the car because the company will pay it for the year," she said. "That enables people who are members to find the closest car. Usually, they'll have them spaced all through the city so it will be a five-minute walk. And then you've got a car and you can drive it to exactly where you're going and leave it there."

Nashville has car-sharing on a limited basis. A company called Zipcar, which has a service that works with students at Vanderbilt and Belmont universities, allows consumers to pick up and share cars much the same way. Enterprise also has a version called Wecar.

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But because of the current Metro code, car-sharing vehicles from those companies must be returned to locations where they are picked up upon each use.

The parameters of Metro's "free-floating zone" still needs to be defined and approved by the the Metro Traffic and Parking Commission. Metro Public Works would oversee the program. Car-sharing vehicles could park in spaces for up to 36 hours.

Car2Go, the nation's largest car-sharing program, was founded five years ago in Austin. It has more than 1 million members. Users must apply for membership and pass background checks on their driving history. The company operates in 14 North American cities and 29 locations overall.

The company is planning further community outreach in Nashville before securing an expansion time line, though a launch could come as soon as late 2015 or early 2016.

Wright of Car2Go said the company's vehicles can be spotted either via phone app or by just walking outside and finding one on the street. It costs 41 cents per minute of car use in addition to a one-time membership fee.

"It's really for those spontaneous, point-to-point, short trips," she said.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Car2Go locations

•Austin, Texas

•San Diego

•Washington, D.C.

•Portland, Ore.

•Miami

•Seattle

•Denver

•Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.

•Columbus, Ohio

•Brooklyn, N.Y.

•Vancouver, British Columbia

•Toronto

•Calgary, Alberta

•Montreal