Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Another set of wheels (and another)

"Rent the car. Own the adventure." That's the motto for Turo, a sharing-economy private car rental site that had escaped my notice until the Seattle Times wrote about it this week.

I haven't owned a car for a few years now. Public transit and walking are my main modes of local transportation, but I'm a member of Zipcar and Car2Go; I hail the occasional Uber; and I rent from traditional car rental companies on occasion, especially out of town. Turo (formerly RelayRides) looks like an intriguing addition to the car-free person's toolkit, especially as an alternative to renting for a few days.

The sharing economy continues to become ever more interesting and useful. I rented an Airbnb rowhouse on Pittsburgh's Northside as a base for a working vacation this past summer. I had it all to myself, it cost a fraction of what it would have cost to stay in a hotel room for that long, plus I was able to live like a local. It's fun to help people earn a little money with their spare rooms or extra car, and it's a good way to stretch your travel budget and reduce your carbon footprint.

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