In reply to Will Schroeer.

Thanks Will for the link to the corporate messaging from Xcel, HourCar, American Lung Association, Nissan etc.

“the pilot will add a total of 50 all-electric vehicles, more than doubling our two-way fleet. To do this, HOURCAR is placing new hubs with EV chargers at multifamily complexes around the Twin Cities metropolitan area, especially at affordable housing sites.”
https://hourcar.org/multifamily/

I agree, shared vehicles need not be an “either or” proposition. However, if the goal is to reduce the number of vehicles and vehicle miles driven, in any location anywhere, scattering 50 or 100 car-share vehicles around the 35-mile wide Twin Cities metro area is not the way to go. In an area 35 miles wide, with a million or more privately-owned, non-commercial vehicles, making who knows how many trips and traveling who knows how many miles each day, and with a fleet of just 50 or 100 car-share vehicles, “around the Twin Cities metropolitan area” is not the place to put “the pilot”.

If one were looking to make a meaningful impact, wouldn’t it make more sense to stick the 50 vehicles in one “hub” rather than scattering the 50 vehicles “around the Twin Cities metropolitan area” in some diluted concentration of who knows how many “hubs”? Rather than scattering the 50 vehicles “around the Twin Cities metropolitan area”, why didn’t HourCar stick the 50 vehicles in 1 or 2 of the many big box apartment buildings that already provide garage parking for 50 or more private vehicles? Is there no big box apartment building owner/manager who would want their building garage filled with shiny new, publicly-subsidized, Chevy Bolts/Nissan Leafs?

With who knows how many 1000s of ready-built spaces, ideally-suited for the compact, electric vehicles, HourCar is putting a total of 50 vehicles in locations scattered all over the Twin Cities metro area. What a joke. The placement of a one or 2 vehicles here and there, from Brooklyn Park to Maplewood, is money spent on marketing and public relations, not transportation.

With who knows how many 1000s of ready-built indoor parking spaces, rather than sticking the 50 vehicles in a single location, where the 50 vehicles might have some impact, HourCar and its corporate partners have decided to spend their corporate welfare on advertising.