Mayor learns to share
City's CarShare service continues successful run.


By Jo Stanley | Staff Writer
Published on Thursday, November 11, 2004


A car-sharing service used by a growing number of city residents celebrated its latest conquest Wednesday -- two prime parking spaces across from City Hall that are nearly good enough for a mayor.

In fact, Mayor Gavin Newsom became City CarShare's newest participant on Wednesday, taking a spin around Civic Center in a brand-new Honda Scion and admitting that, though he was somewhat skeptical about the car-sharing idea when he first heard about it several years ago, now he was a fan.

Afterward he reported that he just may hop into one of CarShare's trademark lime-green VW Beetles one day to get away from his routine limousine service.

"I don't own a car now and, frankly, I get a bit stifled by all the security. I may sneak away," Newsom said.

In the CarShare program, about 3,500 people in San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula share a fleet of 70 vehicles. Members pay a monthly fee of $10 and then get charged based on how long and how far they drive once they've reserved a car or a pickup.

Along with the pair of Polk Street spaces, CarShare has just added another parking "pod" at 17th and Market streets to bring its total in The City up to 25.

Membership is expected to grow by 1,000 people in the next year.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi sent the leaders of the pilot program a statement of congratulations -- noting that a quarter of its members eventually decide to give up their cars altogether. Pelosi obtained $500,000 this year for regional expansion that places vehicles at BART stations.

CarShare board member Kate White said a number of development projects around downtown are working on ways to use CarShare to gain special consideration during city planning reviews or to market its units to tenants or buyers. White said a new parking business at First and Mission will be offering a free spot, and a housing development at Eighth and Howard streets is dedicating off-street parking for CarShare users.

The largest commitment so far is at the University of California at Berkeley's old extension campus on Market Street, where housing is planned along with 10 spots for CarShare drivers. But White said new, high-density neighborhoods such as Rincon Hill and Mission Bay would be natural places for the service to thrive.

Newsom has set a goal of having 90 percent of San Franciscans living within walking distance of a car they could use when they need one. 		   
     
     
     
   

Extrait du programme électoral de Gavin Newsom (page 7) :










Mayor Newsom's
electoral program
12 pages, PDF 917 k

  
 

 
   
   
   
Qui est Gavin Newsom ?
Pour ceux que ça intéresse, Google répertorie quelques dizaines de milliers de pages concernant l'actuel maire de San Francisco, dont celle-ci qui brosse un bref résumé de sa carrière. On a beaucoup parlé de lui en 2004, surtout pour avoir procédé à quelques milliers de mariages gais malgré l'objection de la Cour Suprême de la Californie, mais aussi pour avoir restauré la gigantesque sculpture d'Armand Vaillancourt aux pieds de l'Embarcadero Freeway (voir le diaporama). Certains voient en lui un successeur potentiel à George W. Bush en 2008...