This is brilliant:
The CTA board Friday approved an unusual partnership to create a new transit fare card that can also be used to rent cars.
The joint Chicago Card Plus and I-GO car-sharing smart card might seem at odds with fostering mass transit in the congested Chicago region. But the deal with the non-profit I-GO will promote the “complementary nature of car-sharing and public transit,” said Jim Fowler, CTA chief information officer.
The 10 I-GO rental car facilities are located near CTA rail stations and bus terminals in the city, Evanston and Oak Park, Fowler said. I-GO provides 200 fuel-efficient cars for short-term rental for people who don’t own cars but occasionally need one for grocery shopping, medical appointments or other reasons.
The partnership creates demand for both mass transit and car-sharing. It’s win-win.
Beyond helping out residents without cars of their own, it has potential for urban tourists who only want to take a car for a few hours (though a cab ride might do the trick for that purpose, too).
It will be interesting to see how — financially — the new fare/rental card will improve upon simply getting an I-Go or Zipcar membership and separately taking the train to a lot. But hats off to the CTA for thinking about this as a single ticket.
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October 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
It IS a good idea, but that $75 membership may eliminate a good bit of the tourist trade unless they visit Chicago several times a year. I’ll be interested to see how it plays out.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Al, it’s not clear to me that the CTA would be passing on the normal $75 membership fee. It sounds like they might not. $75 is what it would cost for a separate membership. The CTA joint fare/rental card would seemingly skirt that.
But we’ll see!
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Folks on the I-Go team are pretty excited about the CTA deal, too.
You can stay up to date on it at the I-Go blog, Motormouth: http://igocarsharing.blogspot.com/.
Peace.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
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September 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
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