Jason Redding is revved up about the return of Buffalo Carshare.
He had relied on the nonprofit primarily to transport his DJ equipment to and from gigs. He also used it for running errands and going to the market.
But the small business, which started in 2009 and targeted marginalized communities, was forced to close in June 2015 after the only insurance company in New York State serving independently operated car-share organizations wouldn’t renew its insurance.
Then in 2023, New York passed legislation providing insurance protections for nonprofit carsharing.
Now Buffalo Carshare is back, re-established in August by Mobility Development Operations (MDO) and Creighton Randall, one of Buffalo Carshare’s original co-founders.
“It’s pretty great,” Redding said of the reactivated Buffalo Carshare program. “I recently just got rid of my car. I had it for about seven years, and then I got an email from the original car share saying that they were relaunching it. I didn’t really hesitate to jump on it.”
At only $7 an hour, Redding said, if you get it for two hours it’s $14, which is usually the cost for him of a one-way trip in Uber. “So you can have a car for two hours or just get a one-way trip in an Uber.”
In car sharing, a person rents a vehicle for a short time, perhaps a few hours, for personal use. It’s a shared mobility option like ride sharing. The difference is ride sharing – like Uber – provides a paid driver to transport a passenger for a fee. Both are alternatives to conventional taxi cabs.
At its peak, Buffalo Carshare, had 900 active members. About 50 of the former members have come back so far, Randall said.
Randall started MDO in 2018 and serves as its executive director. MDO operates other car sharing platforms in several other cities, including Albany and Riverside, Calif. All of the programs, including Buffalo’s, focus on low-income communities.
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“These are places where you need a car to get by, but a lot of folks can’t afford to own their own car,” Randall said. “We see this as part of the social safety net. We’re really focused on building that out.”
The relaunched Buffalo Carshare has two cars in service now with plans to expand to 20 cars next year.
All of the vehicles are completely electric. Users get access for $7 hourly, including insurance. The first 100 miles for each reservation are included; it’s 55 cents a mile for additional miles. The maximum reservation length is 24 hours.
The first car, a Chevrolet Bolt, is in service at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Another Bolt, this one at the Lexington Co-op on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, was launched earlier this month. Two more vehicles will be online this fall on the city’s Lower West Side neighborhood through a partnership with GObike Buffalo.
And MDO is “looking at a couple of East Side locations, as well,” Randall said. In addition, there is a grant pending through the New York State Department of Transportation led by the city of Buffalo that will lead to more expansion.
“But for now, we’re bootstrapping it,” Randall said. “Might take a couple of years.”
In addition to Buffalo, MDO has car sharing hubs in other cities across the country, including the state’s capital region. The Albany program started three years ago and has 12 electric vehicles for use and about 450 active members.
MDO also provides car sharing services in Rochester and the Michigan cities of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor, as well at Charlotte, N.C., and St. Louis.
But MDO’s footprint is rooted in Buffalo, Randall said.
“I got back into carshare about six years ago and started in places that were easier to essentially replicate the Buffalo model, and now we’re back,” Randall said. “We’ve been fortunate some folks saw the Buffalo model and said they wanted to invest.”
“It’s got a transformative impact on people’s lives,” he added. “We think that transportation should be a human right.”
Buffalo Carshare is open to individuals 21 years or older with a valid driver’s license, clean driving record and valid credit, debit or prepaid card.
To sign up and reserve cars, visit the Buffalo Carshare website or download the Apple or Android mobile app. There is a one-time $20 application fee. English and Spanish speaking member services staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
By Deidre Williams
News Staff Reporter
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