mass transport and zipcar

a friend of mine (marasca) has been having car troubles and mentioned in her post zipcar.com which is this great idea about being able to have a time-share/ rent cars by the hour if you live in metro areas.

I remember first hearing about this a year or two ago and had hoped it would spread as a concept. I think we rely too much on individual transport in this country and anything that supports people driving less is a good thing. This gives the flexibility to let someone use a car when they need it but not have to own one (thus more people may choose not to own cars full time).

Owning a car often means driving more often even when you could walk, bike, or take mass transport. When I lived in Northampton, I took the bus only about half the time to campus even though it stopped outside of my house due to a convenience factor. I could have taken it all the time.

I love the idea of mass transportation, but I don't live in an area that supports it and I admit sometimes you need to drive yourself places. I live 4.7 miles from work, and the bus won't get me there. I've contemplated biking in, but this has yet to happen (lack of a bike mainly) and it's now winter.

Ideas like this one which fill a niche and are somewhat environmental make me happy. I'm glad there are places doing this in Boston.