FOR as little as $15 an hour, Wellingtonians could be enjoying the benefits of a new car share company.
Shyft is a company with a simple premise.
“You pay a nominal fee to cover the cost of joining, and then rent a car for $15 an hour,” Tom Pettit, Co-Founder of Shyft, says.
“You go online or on your phone and you book it, then you show up when your booking begins, swipe in with your card, and everything’s in it, the keys and the petrol card,” he says.
The $15 hourly rate will also cover things such as the insurance, registration, warrant of fitness and even petrol.
Apart from seeing the success of similar businesses overseas in cities such as Boston and Vancouver, the Shyft founders see the project as a way to help keep the cost of living down in the capital.
“We see a big problem in New Zealand and it’s that Kiwis currently spend about 10% of their income on their private vehicles,” Mr Pettit says.
Because of Wellington’s compact nature, which enables everyone to walk, cycle and use public transport, cars aren’t an everyday necessity, but are useful to go to the grocery store, Mr Pettit says.
“What we want to do is provide people with the chance to use a car but not necessarily have to deal with all the problems of owning one,” Mr Pettit says.
CEO of Snapper, Miki Szikszai, supports the idea.
“Shyft is based on the realization that there are unmet needs in the Wellington market for point to point transport services beyond conventional public transport,” he says.
“The idea of starting small, adapting what has been successful in other cities, learning what Wellingtonians need and then growing from there makes good sense,” Mr Szikszai says.
Shyft is one of three teams involved in Wellington City Council’s first Smart Energy Challenge, and will launch a PledgeMe campaign this Monday.
For every dollar they raise towards the project, council will match them, up to $20,000.
Apart from the obvious financial challenge, Mr Pettit believes the real make or break for the project will be whether Wellingtonians can live with the idea of not owning a car.
“We’ve got our identities all wrapped up in our vehicles, but once people understand the convenience, and how much money they can save, they get real keen on the idea,” he says.
Mr Pettit is not deterred by the fact there’s already a car share company in Wellington. In fact he believes their existence makes things easier for Shyft.
“Cityhop has been doing the hard work of pioneering the car share idea in New Zealand, and has made great inroads in Auckland. We’d like to boost the idea in Wellington. It’ll help them, it’ll help us, but the important part is that the idea of car share wins,” he says.
By 2020 Shyft want a full fleet of electric powered cars, so their customers enjoy a cheap eco-friendly way to get around the capital.
What do you think? Have you used a car share system? Let us know you experiences in the comments below.
