Buffalo CarShare is making it easier to have access to reliable and convenient transportation without having to own a car. CarShare members have the option to choose from vehicles that best suit their needs and use them on an hourly basis. Whether at work or at home, if there is a CarShare hub nearby, members can easily reserve a car and use it to run errands.
For affordable monthly or yearly dues, members can use a CarShare vehicle located at 1 of the 10 hubs throughout the city. Members near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) can find 2 vehicles to choose from in the Washington Street parking lot near the BNMC/National Grid Model Energy Home. Hub locations are near many communities, colleges, and business districts. The options for memberships vary and can be extended to families and businesses, and there are even discounts for non-profit organizations. Flagged with the noticeable green leaf attached to a key ring logo, many of the cars can also be easily identified by the blue-colored paint.
It is very easy to reserve a CarShare vehicle which can be done 1 of 3 ways. Members can go to the Buffalo CarShare office located at 14 Allen Street, call 716.898.0850, or go online to reserve a vehicle. Once it is reserved, members go to a hub, use their personalized key fob to gain access to the car in order to drive it. The car has technology within it that tracks the time it is taken out, the time it is brought back, and the number of miles traveled. When done, all members have to do is park it back at the same hub they drove it from.
An opportunity to bring another transportation option that is less strenuous on the wallet and the environment to the Medical Campus and other locations has been created through grant funds received by Buffalo CarShare. In August, BikeShare will be introduced through a beta program which will be tested by 200 bike riders. In partnership with Go Bike Buffalo, CarShare will launch bike-sharing by offering the use of 75 new social bicycles, all equipped with GPS systems and locks operated by access codes.
The Department of Transportation and NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) granted funds a total of $284,000 in to Buffalo CarShare, BNMC, and GO Bike Buffalo.
“One thing that CarShare does and what BikeShare will do for the Medical Campus is to provide employees who take transit, carpool or use alternative modes to get to and from work easier,” said William Smith, who is working hard to enhance access to the BNMC. “Both help to create added-mobility options for things such as wp-contentointments, errands, meetings and lunches once employees are already at work.”
As a collective, Buffalo CarShare, the BNMC, Go Bike Buffalo, and other partners form GO Buffalo, an initiative to enhance and promote the transportation options in Buffalo. CarShare received $143, 000 to create the bike-share program. The BNMC is using the awarded $121,000 to create the Transportation Toolkit through GO BNMC and to incentivize use of transportation alternatives, and GO Bike Buffalo is using the $20,000 awarded to help create Complete Streets throughout the City of Buffalo.
To see the cost for your vehicle each day, month, and year, use the Car Cost Calculator to determine how much money you could be saving if you were to join Buffalo CarShare. For more information about the BikeShare program, contact Buffalo CarShare at info@buffalocarshare.org.