Flexcar, founded in 2000, is a car-sharing service providing individual members with access to a fleet of vehicles located throughout a metropolitan area. Flexcar provides the vehicle, gas, parking, insurance and maintenance so that members pay only for their hourly usage.

Flexcar’s Seattle operation began with a handful of Capitol Hill members. Having recently celebrated its fourth anniversary, Flexcar now has 130 vehicles located in 20 Seattle neighborhoods as well as office buildings, retail shopping parking lots and other spots throughout Seattle, the Eastside and Bainbridge Island. Flexcar has caught on so well in Seattle that the company counts nearly 10,000 locals among its membership roles, nearly half the company’s nationwide membership of 20,000. “Flexcar enjoyed quick success in dense Seattle neighborhoods and it turned out to be a natural progression for our individual members to request Flexcar services at their downtown worksites,” said Business Sales Representative Jamie Cheney. “We now have over 30 Flexcar vehicles just in downtown Seattle.”

What is surprising is not that Flexcar has been so successful in Seattle but that the business community has caught on to the benefits of Flexcar, not only as a commute trip reduction element, but as a replacement for fleet vehicles. “Our fastest growing member segments are business-to-business members,” Cheney said. “Flexcar makes sense in the business environment. It is an easy way for businesses to keep their business transportation costs proportional to their needs—in other words, Flexcar is a lot less expensive than owning and operating company cars.”

The trend of businesses using Flexcar has been replicated in a number of the other markets in which the company operates. While most other markets are much less mature than Seattle, all are gaining ground with businesses. Companies across the board have seen how expensive it can be to own, operate and maintain fleet cars. Other companies regularly use taxis and rental cars when employees need to make in-town business trips but these options can get expensive very quickly too. Flexcar offers a viable solution to both situations. As a Flexcar business member, a company’s employee simply reserves a vehicle online or over the phone, uses their keycard, and off they go to their meeting. Flexcar takes care of the gas, maintenance insurance and parking, and its reservation system can track usage all the way down to the employee or department level for ease of internal allocation.

A business Flexcar membership also can be an integral part of a company’s commute trip reduction program. Instead of driving alone to work in order to attend an off-site meeting or run personal errands, employees can ride the bus, walk, bicycle, carpool or vanpool to work everyday knowing that there is a Flexcar available for whatever trips they might need to take during the workday.

For more information on Flexcar business services contact Jamie Cheney at 206-391-1165 or visit www.flexcar.com.

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