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Enterprise Rent-A-Car Debutes WeCarâ„¢ Car Sharing Plan In St. Louis

January 15, 2008 Car Sharing 24 Comments

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the rental giant based in the St. Louis Region, has finally announced a new car sharing program called WeCar™.  First up, Washington University:

Washington University in St. Louis’ Parking & Transportation Services and Enterprise Rent-A-Car© have partnered to bring WeCarâ„¢, a car-sharing program, to the university’s Danforth Campus.

The program, the first of its kind in the St. Louis area, allows Washington University students, faculty, staff and employees of qualified service providers over age 18 to rent vehicles at an hourly rate. The vehicles will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  (Full press release)

The press release indicates is an all-hybrid program.  Initially WashU’s campus has four Toyota Prius hybrid models and two Ford Escape hybrid SUV’s.  Sources tell me that downtown St. Louis locations will soon be announced.

At this time the wecar.com website just lists an email address to contact for more information.  However, at the Wash U version of site is a tad more info.

I cannot begin to express how excited I am by this announcement. Being car-free in St. Louis just got easier.

  • John W.

    This is clearly a BIG step in the right direction. With FlexCar and Zipcar merging (one bought the other) into one, more nationally reaching company, maybe some vigorous and healthy competition will lead to broad interest in this excellent concept. My employer is working with a group of others in the downtown business community to establish a smaller scope car share arrangement. This is surely encouraging news.

  • Jeff

    I did a “double take” on this post… since I have hear “some” talk from CMT (Citizens for Modern Transit) about the “possiblity” of this (car sharing) in the “future” (sorta like Metrolink going to North County (paralleling I-170 – great for me ;0)

    Thanks for posting!

  • ex-stl

    these are great programs, but remember if it’s more than an hour or two and/or 30+ miles, you may be better off using a convential renter…

  • john

    Concepts of sharing work bests when the item of choice meets certain criteria. Especially important is investment amount, care and maintenance, carbon footprint, fuel consumption, and ease of use. I’m sure that all the doctors brought in from foreign countries will appreciate this. The new underground parking garage in the new student center, providing 500 spaces at a cost of about $43,000 each can be used to park these new cars. Trying to be all things to all people is a StL tradition. Being car-free is not the same thing as ownership free.

  • Jeff

    Looks like CMT does have a hand in this:

    Citizens for Modern Transit and seven other sponsors are forming a car sharing program that will initially operate in downtown St. Louis and on the campus of Washington University. The program will be known as “WeCar” an initiative of Enterprise Leasing Company.

    “CMT has been working on this for a long time and are thrilled that Enterprise is launching the program,” said Thomas R. Shrout, Jr., executive director. St. Louis is the first location in the country where Enterprise will be operating a car sharing program.

    “Car sharing will provide a big benefit to transit riders, enabling them to get along with one fewer cars.

    Initially nine cars will be parked downtown and 10 on the campus of Washington University.

    Partnering with CMT are Pyramid-Spinnaker, LLC, Lofworks, Syndicate Building, Trivers Architects, Lawrence Group 1 Inc., Downtown St. Louis Partnership and Washington University.

    Sign up details will be announced soon.

  • Jim Zavist

    Definitely a step in the right direction – too bad it’s limited to faculty and staff . . . Another good “partner” could be (gasp) Metro. Having cars available at places like the Brentwood or Fairview Heights Metrolink stations would make it easier for urbanites access suburban shopping centers . . .

    [SLP --- I believe they are working on getting the cars as places such as the MetroLink garage on Eager @ Hanley.  A few of the cars will also be at WashU at Skinker & Forest Park -- adjacent to the MetroLink.  Keep in mind that CMT is involved because they see this as a way to support mass transit.]

  • Dennis

    This looks like a good place for me to VENT! AS I mentioned in an earlier posting I am living car free these days because my car was stolen (recovered, but wrecked) and right now I am so @#$%&*!!!! digusted with the insurance comapany and the whole situation I am half tempted to just NOT get a new car. But this car sharing thing will only have SIX available. What would be the odds of getting one on weekends when everyone will want one.

    [SLP --- Six is the initial rollout, more will follow!]

  • John W.

    I can’t even remember the last time I put gas in my car because I ride Metro all of the time. It rules.

  • Jeff

    Stltoday article on car sharing in STL

    http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/commutingtraffic/story/0FB1985506160534862573D200169798?OpenDocument

    [SLP -- Note, articles on STLToday disappear within a few days of appearance on the site so don't blame me when the above link doesn't work in the future.]

  • http://artsci.wustl.edu/~jgfrank/ Joe Frank

    This program is available to all faculty, staff, students, and employees of contractors (i.e. TopCare, Bon Appetit, etc.) at WashU. To see the agreements you have to sign, go to:
    https://enterprise.invers.com/entwustl

    Once you send in the agreement with your credit card info included, you’ll get a key fob.
    Of course, if you are a student under age 21, you also need parental consent/financial agreement.

    Cars are parked at four locations on the campus: on the South 40 near Liggett House; in the Snow Way Garage; east of Brookings Hall near Givens Hall; and near the Mallinckrodt Student Center.

    It’s a start. I’m hoping the downtown expansion happens pretty soon, because even though I’m eligible for the WashU program, I rarely go to campus.

  • john

    A university which charges $49,000/year for tuition, room & board, perhaps should be legally required to offer this free to all citizens who must endure the burden of dealing with brats.

  • SIG

    It’s a good thing to get started, but it’s not really consumer friendly yet. You still have to reserve it in advance at the specific location and for the specific time slot that you desire. So there’s a lot of “pre-planning” and internet time that has to go into it. I’d like to see a “grab and go” type scheme that would better simulate how people could use their own vehicles or even conventional rentals that they move around and park in locations other than the designated pick up.

  • john w.

    We need to prove that this concept can remain afloat in the St. Louis market before the improvements can be justified. This is still very much in the experimental stage (even in original markets), and w/o the proliferation through use, the low demand will never warrant convenient improvement.

  • john w.

    I saw the crimson colored Prius parked at 8th and Pine on my way to the metrolink last night. I particularly like the small, but visible and sturdy WeCar sign mounted to the sidewalk. I’m hopeful that there will be many more small, visible and sturdy signs and shared cars all over the city.

  • socialmaker

    At this time the wecar.com website just lists an email address to contact for more information. However, at the Wash U version of site is a tad more info.rent a car

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  • http://www.carweights.net/ car weights

    I think this will be really great. I’m glad the We Car program is going to use smart cars. What a great way to help the environment and keep things cheap for customers. I think they’re doing the right thing.

  • AliceWonderland42

    It's great to see that more and more car rental companies around USA are starting these types of programs. I read the other day in a newspaper that the Raleigh car rental company is planning to launch a similar program. Sounds great to me!

  • http://www.alamocarhireuk.com Alamo Rent A Car

    wao its great i am very happy and in my point of view its a great opportunity for people who hire cars at daily bases and its a great blog where people found most helpful information about car rental companies at the end thanks for sharing this great post again i am saying you thank you so much dear.

  • http://www.nicecargames.com Car Games

    This looks like a good place for me to VENT! AS I mentioned in an earlier posting I am living car free these days because my car was stolen (recovered, but wrecked) and right now I am so @#$%&*!!!! digusted with the insurance comapany and the whole situation I am half tempted to just NOT get a new car. But this car sharing thing will only have SIX available. What would be the odds of getting one on weekends when everyone will want one.

  • http://www.cheap-hotel.net/carrental.htm Cheap car rental

    We Car program really do well in the plan of using a smart cars for the car rental services. We Car must have a letter “e” so that it will be We Care. I said this because it's obvious that they want to help the environment by producing those eco friendly cars. They really do the right thing and that is to prevent the environment from being polluted.

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  • http://www.carhire-rentals.co.uk Cheap Car Hire

    WeCar is a membership-based car sharing program for people who are looking for an alternative method of transportation that lowers the cost and reduces the hassles of traditional transportation. With Car Sharing, you can have a vehicle at your fingertips when you need one, but won’t have all the hassle and expense of having a car on campus when you don’t! The Car Sharing program on the Washington University campus is called WeCar and is provided by Enterprise.

  • http://www.carhire-rentals.co.uk Car Hire UK

    Hey,nice post.WeCar is a membership-based car sharing program for people
    who are looking for an another option  of
    transportation that lowers the cost and reduces the hassles of traditional
    transportation.

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