There are more than 600 cities around the world that offer city car share services for its member drivers to use as they conduct their daily travels within the city itself. These services aren’t always a subsidiary part of a larger public transportation system but, in many cases, they are.

Whether or not a city car share service is affiliated with a larger public transportation system, they seem to work best in cities that have a bustling public transportation system in operation. Many car share services encourage the use of public transportation in addition to the use of the car share service itself.

A city car share service offers the use of service-owned vehicles at little cost to its members. Most members rent a car by the hour or day, paying only an hourly fee plus a small mileage fee. This way, someone who drives more pays more and someone who drives a car only a few hours each month pays accordingly.

The administrators of a city car share service handle all the details of driving, including reservations, maintenance, repairs, insurance, refueling, and cleaning. Services vary from one to the next but these are some services considered universally standard.

To make driving a city car share vehicle the most attractive to members, free parking lots are reserved at all times throughout the city so cars can always be accessed easily by all members. Free parking spaces are frequently located in neighborhoods and business hubs as well as at the access points to the city’s public transportation system.

Members of a city car share service never have to worry about finding and paying for parking, which can be rather expensive, and they also never need to worry about buying gasoline, paying for insurance, or scheduling routine maintenance services or car repairs. Since all members understand they are sharing the vehicle with others, all members must return vehicles in a timely manner and in clean and good working order.

With the cost of gasoline skyrocketing around the globe and the cost of car ownership following in hot pursuit, the concept of a city car share service is gaining attention in cities worldwide. While not an ideal solution for every city, more and more of them are giving the option serious consideration.