Last week, PhillyCarShare — a company that rents cars to insured drivers over the age of 19 — announced that it will offer a new rate plan designed for infrequent drivers.
In the company’s December survey, infrequent users expressed that the $15 monthly fee for the company’s “Philadelphia Plan” was too high considering those drivers’ minimal usage, according to Gerald Furgione, executive director of PhillyCarShare. Furgione called the new plan — known as the “Keystone Plan” — a “response” to such concerns.
The Philadelphia Plan charges an annual fee of $125, or $15 per month.
Under the Keystone Plan, members will pay a $35 annual fee with no monthly payments and no mileage fee for the first 185 miles of each reservation. Rates start at $7 per hour Monday through Friday and $9 per hour for Saturday and Sunday. Members can choose between standard and specialty vehicles.
According to Furgione, regular users “were okay with” the Philadelphia Plan’s annual rate, but infrequent users, such as college students who “might use it once every two months or three months,” found it expensive.
“We want to make sure we’re not being exclusive to people who aren’t infrequent users,” Furgione said.
Zipcar — a competitor of PhillyCarShare, which rents cars to licensed drivers over 21 years old — offers a similar rate plan for infrequent drivers, called the “Occasional Driving Plan.”
It boasts no monthly rates and charges a $50 annual fee.
PhillyCarShare took an initiative to extend its customer base before the Keystone Plan, when it partnered with Penn in January 2008 to provide service through the Green Campus Partnership, an umbrella organization that addresses sustainability policies at Penn.
Today, the program provides service to 118 departments, including the School of Nursing, Penn Dining, the School of Dental Medicine and Penn sports clubs, among others.
In total, the program has over 412 Penn business drivers, all of whom get “special rates,” according to Furgione.
Nursing Director of Student Registration and Information Adam Sherr said Nursing students use PhillyCarShare to drive to their clinicals and rotations.
“We have some sites that we travel to that may not be safe. We don’t expect our students to come with their own personal cars,” Sherr said.
Students reserve a car online and PhillyCarShare bills the Nursing School directly for their usage.
“It’s just so much more convenient this way,” Sherr added.
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