Update from Carshare
Sharing in the Capital City
With three months under our belts and over 60 households beginning to share, we've been thrilled by the warm welcome we've received so far in Montpelier. We appreciate your on-going support and encouragement as we navigate piloting our service in a new (and much smaller) community that's 40 miles away from our Burlington headquarters.
A few thank yous...
In particular, we'd like to thank Jill Muhr and Dan Costin who have gone above and beyond these past few months. They have been our biggest cheer leaders, and have worked hard to help us spread the word about CarShare Vermont most notably at the Farmer's Market this summer. Also, many thanks to those of you who have posted to Front Porch Forum, talked with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and generally helped to spread the word about CarShare Vermont within your networks. It truly takes a village, and we appreciate all of your help!
We are also very grateful to our Montpelier Fleet Assistant James Sharp, and our stellar fleet volunteer Becky Webber who have been our eyes and ears on the ground. Plus a big shout out to the Montpelier Police Department for being so responsive and for helping us work through some initial blocked parking challenges. Thankfully as people become more familiar with our service and our pod locations, blocked spaces become a much more rare occurrence. And you may have noticed our new pedestal sign at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library pod, which seems to be working like a charm!
How's Montpelier stacking up?
Many of you have asked how we're doing in Montpelier. The short answer is, so far so good! As we look ahead into the fall, we're well on our way to meeting our 6-month goal of adding 75 members by the end of October. We're also optimistic that utilization will continue to pick up and that we'll see the cars being used an average of 4.5hr/day soon. This is great news, and we're excited to continue to find ways to grow our membership, and introduce more households to the economic, social, and environmental benefits of sharing. Next steps & ways to help
To keep the positive momentum going, we'd love to hear about any summer/fall events that you think we should be a part of. We'll be tabling at City Hall in the coming weeks (details in the purple side bar) and we're also planning to to host a Montpelier Mingle in the late summer/early fall to bring together CarShare Vermont members, volunteers, and friends. Please stay tuned! And, if you have ideas for where we should host such a gathering we are open to suggestions! We're looking for a space that would fit 40-50 people and we'd like to provide light snacks and have access to a cash bar. Email alicia@carsharevt.org or call (802) 861-2340 to share your ideas, and to let us know if you'd like to help out with outreach.
CONTACT US
CarShare Vermont
131 St. Paul Street
Burlington, VT 05401
JOIN4FREE Summer promo!
This summer we're waiving application fees (normally $30), plus giving $10 in driving credits to new members that join by August 31st! Just use the promo code JOIN4FREE on your application. Already a member? You're in luck too! Refer a friend and if they join and mention your name on their application you'll get $10 in driving credits as well. Learn more here.
Has CarShare Vermont helped you shed a car?
Based on last year's Annual Member Survey, we know that 86% of CarShare Vermont members belong to 0-1 car households. Plus, 46% of members report shedding or opting not to buy a vehicle after joining. This means that for every vehicle we add to the fleet we remove 15 on average from the roadway! Have you shed a car since joining in Montpelier? If so, tell us about it!