You have it all figured out: thanks to urban village style areas such as Barkley Village and Fairhaven, you can get rid of your car because everything that you need is within walking distance or has a bus going by it. But what about visiting your friend out in the county…..buses don’t run out there.

Enter community cars. The concept of car-sharing organizations is popular in Europe and some major US cities, including Seattle. Here is how it works: members pay an annual membership fee. They then have access to vehicles which are parked around the city and can be used at random, or reserved. Enter your PIN when you get to the car and it automatically tracks how long you use the car and bills you. Flexcar, one of the major community car companies, charges a basic rate of $9/hour but has packages available for people who use them frequently. That rate includes gas and insurance!

Bellingham currently has a list of 40 people interested in a community car program. The Whatcom Transportation authority has currently decided against running a community car program, but are open to assisting the group with promotions such as reduced fare bus passes for community car users.

Let us know - would you use a community car?  Why or why not?