The problem of cars... and one good alternative!

Well, if you don't know, I have a thing against cars. I don't like them as a transportation system, due to their being horribly destructive, directly and more importantly indirectly, and their being subsidized. I hate having them interrupt me as I walk through my town. But, I do realize that they are impossible to avoid for some people and situation, although less situations than most would admit, IMHO.

A large problem with cars is the sheer number of them out there. Mass transit is imperative for denser cities. The site of a Ford Expedition with one Laura Bush driving pisses me off. Taxis are one alternative, and they're possibly better than personal cars, because they mitigate the need for as large of parking garages and at least there's at least 2 people in the car at a time. However, I ran across a really great alternative I had no idea existed.

Flexcar!

I had even thought of something like this on my own a little while back. There's the white bicycle program in some country, I forget which (I think it's white bicycle.... some colored bicycle....) where you buy all these simple bikes, paint them white, and they're public use. You ride it to where you need to go, then park it. Someone else takes it, rides it, and the cycle continues. As long as there's lots of them it's no problem. Considering the bicycle theft problem here, it's not a bad idea. We'll just ALL 'steal' bikes all the time. None will be locked up, damn it, and screw you, bike thief. But I digress.

So, flexcar. It's not free, but it's a very similar idea. You reserve a car, either via phone or internet, pick it up at a designated location, drive it for your reserved time, and drop it off. Now, there's a few different rate plans, but get this: The annual fee is $35. $35!!!! After that there's either subscriptions, which include X many hours (kinda like a cell-phone plan) or you can pay $9/hour. That's not bad, I must say.

        You don't pay:
        

        
• Insurance

        
• Maintenance

        
• For the car(!!!!)

        

        You do pay:
        

        
• gas

        
• tickets

        

I must say, sign me up!!! This is what I've been waiting for. Currently it's only available inter-city, so you'd have to use a traditional rental-company for inter-city travel. No biggy. The point of this is to provide a rental service on your time. Nearly as convenient as owning a car. Much less expensive. Much less hassle. This is what I'm talking about.