We’ve all been there, sitting on the I-35 during 5 p.m. rush hour wanting to pull our hair out. Although Austin is known for its fun, excitement and creativity, it is also known for its traffic. Car2Go is a point-to-point service, and with their distinctive Smart Fourtwo vehicles, they are designed for maneuvering congested roads.

In May 2010, Austin welcomed 300 “Car2Go edition” cars into the city. Founded in Germany in 2008, Car2Go pioneered its North America operation in Austin, and is currently serving in six cities in the U.S. Car2Go offers a rental car-sharing service, charging 41 cents per minute with rates varying by location. Those looking for services for more than a day are available to discounted fixed rates, which are also applied hourly, and daily, covering rental, gas, insurance and parking.

Last semester, Car2Go approached the university to propose a partnership. Car2Go already had many St. Edward’s students enrolled in the car-sharing program and this relationship grew into an official partnership so that the university could provide more convenient access to Car2Go on campus. 

Every April St. Edward’s celebrates Earth Week and stresses the benefits of sustainability. Car2Go representatives advertised their service during Earth week, and the positive feedback spurred the partnership.  

As part of St. Edward’s agreement with Car2Go, the company will wave the initial sign up fee if students sign up online. Students also receive 30 minutes of free drive time.

The Sustainability Coordinator here at St. Edward’s, Cristina Bordin, believes the program especially benefits international students.

“Some of our students, particularly international, cannot afford buying cars so Car2Go is an additional alternative they have,” Bordin said. 

Car2Go shared the following information with St. Edward’s after 39 days of the partnership:

• There were exactly 200 rides.

• Students used 118 different cars.

• The busiest day of the week was Thursday.

• For the first two weeks, the busiest time of day was 1-2 p.m.

• For the last three weeks, the busiest time of day was 7-8 p.m.

“I’ve been a big proponent of the Car2Go concept for a while. It’s great to get around Austin during festivals,” Junior Mitchell Breton said. “It makes for quick and easy parking and they have spots exclusive for Car2Go downtown and during SXSW.”

Although Breton had good experiences with Car2Go around Austin, his experiences on campus were different.

Running late to class, Breton opted to park his Car2Go near Premont Hall. At this time, there were no allocated spots on campus for a Car2Go car.  There are now a couple spots in the visitor’s parking lot allocated for Car2Go vehicles. 

While in class, Breton received a call but only listened to the voice mail after class to find that UPD had ticketed the car.

“I thought someone would come and grab the car before it became a problem. The voice mail said because I was the last registrant on the vehicle, if I didn’t move it immediately I was subject to a $180 towing fee,” Breton said.

Breton tried to appeal his ticket with the student government association.

“A few days later I took the ticket to SGA but by this time I had already put a picture of the ticket on Instagram, so they laughed about my inquiry and told me to leave. I never ended up paying the ticket and since, haven’t had any repercussions,” Breton said.

Hilltop Views contacted UPD multiple times in person and in email for this story; however, UPD failed to respond.

Senior Mark Shaw has used Car2Go. He likes the idea but wishes that the company offered different styles of cars.

“It would be nice to have room for five people total than the two-seated Smart cars. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my Car2Go experience,” Shaw said.

Car2Go Communications Specialist, Margot Piper, spoke on behalf of the company as to why they opt for the Smart cars.

“They’re fun to park, easy to drive and offer an environmentally-friendly way to get around town. We continually look into what would be best for our members and love to hear their opinion on how Car2Go could be enhanced,” Piper said.