CityWheels

That's visible and close to a big n'hood destination. Good idea. Where's the population center of gravity in the area? North or south of the square? Would a Coral spot within the square be even better? Or an RTA spot just west of the station? Someone suggested the small street off N Moreland behind Dewey's that leads to the big parking lot. Thoughts?

The idea behind spreading cars out is to put wheels within a 5-minute walk of as many people as possible. The trolley is an ideal way to reach more distant vehicles, but wouldn't people rather walk to a car if one is available? That's how it's done by other CSOs (carsharing organizations). Some parking locations (CSOs call them "pods" = points of departure) do have multiple cars, once the market has been established. The 9th and Lakeside location is important because it is between city hall and the water department, with whom we're trying to nail down a six month employee pilot project that has been pending for nearly a year. CH2M Hill has also expressed interest in signing up, and there are some big firms in the north point tower. But that is probably the weakest of the bunch. We're also aiming for Tower City, opposite Houlihan's valet parking on Prospect. Close to a lot of office space, the rapid station, and within a reasonable walk from both East 4th and the Warehouse District. We've looked at Huron behind the Wyndam, but I'm excited about E 14th -- the first space south of Euclid on the west side (directly west of Starbucks). Right outside the front doors of Hanna and Ideastream. Why Frankfort, rather than St Clair? Isn't the density closer to Lakeside? Same question about 6th vs 9th? I've considered 9th & St Clair - maybe even farther north, opposite Constantino's. It's a destination for a lot of people, so it would have great visibility. Thanks, -Ryan

I'm looking for feedback on the ideal locations for new CityWheels cars in downtown, Shaker Square and Cedar-Fairmount (or other place along the top of the hill between Mayfield & Cedar). We expect to add six cars within 4 weeks: Four downtown (Warehouse District, Tower City, Playhouse Square and near Lakeside/E 9th), one in Shaker Square, and one in the Cedar-Fairmount area. We already have two in University Circle. I'm looking for exact on-street parking spots (meter number or street address) in anticipation of a meeting this week with the city's parking people. Each location's visibility is important, along with proximity to the highest numbers of potential residential and workplace customers. I personally think it is also valuable to be near places where our target customers are in the habit of frequenting (i.e. - grocery store, transit station). I'll be happy with our network when we've grown enough to support multiple cars within a 5-minute walk of most people in our target districts (e.g. - one here, another nearby to the south, another to the east, etc.). But for now I have only six new cars to deploy, and I'm seeking feedback on where others would "plant the flags", and why.

CityWheels is finding its footing -- I tried going into residential neighborhoods (Ohio City, Coventry) and Tower Press without a revenue guarantee and without a marketing partner, and I couldn't get the critical mass fast enough to keep covering the direct vehicle costs (north of $800 per month, per car), let alone any marketing or overhead. Our partnership with UCI will be the model for going forward. And I think colleges/universities will be a primary customer. -Ryan McKenzie Here's the message I sent to members last week. To: [email protected] Subject: Improvements to your CityWheels experience Dear CityWheels members, Thank you for being among the first in Ohio to use car-sharing for your transportation needs. The CityWheels family has worked hard to bring this new travel option to you, and we have appreciated your patronage and support in our first seven months of operation. In an effort to improve the quality of your experience with us, and to ensure that CityWheels can grow, I am pleased to announce a number of changes. Cleveland cars move to University Circle We are excited to announce a sponsoring partnership with University Circle Inc.(UCI), the nonprofit development corporation for the region’s premier arts and education district. The UCI sponsorship will make it possible to introduce CityWheels to thousands of employees, students and residents living in and around the University Circle area. Today we held a press conference with UCI to announce that our Cleveland- based Toyota Prius and Scion xB have moved to their new home in the heart of University Circle – the UCI Lot at the corner of Euclid Avenue, Ford Drive and Mayfield Road commonly known as Hessler Beach [http://tinyurl.com/f8nfu]. This lot is a short walk from the RTA Red Line station at E 120th & Euclid Ave, and is on the RTA #6 and #9 bus routes. [For transit information, visit http://www.RideRTA.com] We are engaged in conversations with potential sponsors of several cars in downtown Cleveland and in Ohio City. Stay tuned for more information about these new cars and their arrival in the upcoming months. Changes to Application and Annual Membership Fees Pricing and membership fees have been modified and made more simple to understand. New members can now join for $75 -- a one-time application fee of $25.00 plus a $50 Annual Membership (charged on the anniversary date of joining). Oberlin Students will continue to pay only $25 to join CityWheels, thanks to assistance from Oberlin College. Members who applied before September 1st have been credited for their first annual membership, and the cost to add an additional person to these accounts is just $25. Changes to Hourly and Distance-based Pricing Three new pricing plans will replace our existing pricing structure, effective October 1, 2006. All of these plans continue to provide you with the freedom to use a CityWheels vehicle by the hour or day. And of course gasoline, insurance and maintenance are still included. The new Local Plan puts you behind the wheel for just $5.90 per hour and 30 cents per mile – this is an inexpensive option if you need a car mostly for local errands and nearby shopping trips. If you’re driving longer distances, consider the new Standard Plan and Value Plan. Previously 125 miles per day were included in each reservation--no matter how short the time. The past six months of experience, unfortunately, have proven that we cannot afford to support long distances (and their gas bills) on short reservations. The new Standard and Value Plans will now include 20 miles with each reserved hour (so 2 hours include 40 miles, 2.5 hours, 50 miles and so on). Additional miles will be billed at $.30 per mile. The new Standard Plan is $8.90/hr, and will no longer include a $4.99 monthly charge. Choose the new Value Plan if you’re likely to use your CityWheels for more than eight hours per month. A $15 monthly Value Plan fee will have you driving for only $6.90 per hour (i.e. - $2/hr less than Standard). Those of you who were on the old Standard Plan (i.e. – who didn’t have a prepaid balance) have already been switched to the new Standard Plan for September (Note that you have not been charged $4.99 for a September monthly plan fee). If we don’t hear from those of you currently on a Value 10 or 25 Plan, we’ll switch you to the Value Plan on October 1st. We’ll charge the same amount as previous months to your card on file, deduct $15 for the monthly Value fee, and the rest will be shown as your available balance to use at just $6.90 per hour. Please contact us at 888-692-9457 or e-mail to [email protected] if you would like to switch to another plan Changes to Weekday Rates The weekday rate will be available for Standard members ($65) and Value Plan members ($55) for reservations up to 24 hours (8pm Sunday through 6pm on Friday). So that we can make CityWheels available to multiple members on weekends, daily rates will not be available on Saturdays and Sundays. Weekday rates will continue to include 125 miles, with additional miles increasing to $0.30 each. For longer distance trips of less than 24 hours, the billing system will automatically choose the lowest-cost option for you. Local Plan customers can take a car for up to 24 hours for $40, plus $.30 per mile (no miles included). We want you to be safe, so we’re making it easy to keep the car overnight for those nights out when you’re getting home late. Pay just $5.90/hr for your first two hours past 11pm, and return the car by 7am to avoid additional hourly charges. All overnight miles cost $0.30 each. NEW - Security Deposit for Insurance Deductible In order to reduce the risk of bad debt in case of a car crash, a fully refundable security deposit of $250 (half of your $500 insurance deductible for an at-fault accident), will be required for customers for whom CityWheels does not have a major credit card on file. (Note that debit cards drawing from your bank account are NOT credit cards, even though they have a Visa or Mastercard logo). We will contact you individually to make arrangements. Save $500! Did you know that if you pay your monthly bill with an eligible Visa credit card, you have the opportunity for Visa to cover the cost of damage instead of CityWheels? This is free to you, and you’ll have nothing to pay if you are involved in an accident - not even the $500 deductible we would otherwise charge. If you use one of the following cards to pay for your driving, you can use this benefit: Visa Classic, Visa Secured, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum, Visa Signature Mastercard provides this for some of its cards, so you'll need to check with your card issuer to be sure. Do check with your card issuer to be sure you qualify. If you currently have a debit card, you might wish to apply for a "Visa Secured" card, which functions in a similar fashion as a debit card. For more information, contact us at [email protected]. Improvements to Monthly Billing and Payment Plans that require you to choose a specific number of monthly hours (e.g. – Value 10 vs Value 25 plans) are being eliminated. Now you will simply maintain an account with CityWheels, and it will be easy to see your account balance at all times. Just fuel up your account, and drive to your heart's content -- we hold your debit or credit card info on file for easy billing. You can fuel up in two simple ways: With pay-as-you-go, add value to your account when making a reservation to cover its estimated cost. For easy and predictable budgeting and to save a few mouse clicks, choose convenient monthly auto-debiting. Your credit or debit card will be charged an amount that you choose, on the same day each month. Any remaining value rolls over to the next month, with no “use it or lose it” commitments. If your account runs low, just pay as you go. Mid month, you’ll receive a monthly invoice that reconciles any differences between actual and estimated costs for your use. For members who prefer not to pay their monthly charges with credit or debit cards, CityWheels will continue to accept personal checks. However, checks must clear our bank account before the funds will be available for reservations. Vehicle access and security CityWheels has temporarily converted to a system of lockboxes and trip tickets, while we evaluate new technology that will provide more reliable and accurate access in the future. You can access each car’s ignition key from a nearby lockbox, fill out a trip ticket in the driver’s door pocket for each reservation, and go as usual. Look on your reservation confirmation sheet for details. Reservations & Emergencies We have established a new number for extending reservations and reporting emergencies: THE NEW RESERVATION & EMERGENCY LINE IS 1-888-275-8923 The previous emergency number - 888-MY-C-WHLS - now rings directly to a CityWheels staff person for general questions and non-emergency customer support. We expect these changes will provide you with an even better car-share experience. CityWheels is a family-owned company, and we’re dedicated to constantly improving our service for you. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please feel free to contact me, Ryan McKenzie, at 216.308.1059, 888.MY-C-WHLS (692-9457), or [email protected]. Drive on and share the road! Ryan, Miriam, Andrew and Megan

We're launching in Oberlin on February 7th with two cars, in part because the College agreed to grants and subsidies. By mid-March we'll have a car in Ohio City, Coventry, Shaker Square and the W 117th/Clifton area, with additional cars to follow in those locations as demand grows. We'll get to downtown Cleveland by May 1st (aiming for six cars if capitalization allows), and we're in discussion with University Circle institutions. In total, we're aiming for 15-20 vehicles in 2006, and at least that many more in 2007, and continuing our efforts to cover all the likely neighborhoods with an increasingly dense network. We didn't want to tackle downtown until we had a least a few months of operational experience -- we figure Oberlin customers and the early neighborhood customers will be more forgiving of any startup glitches than corporate clients downtown. We're also aiming to find free parking, and that's easier to get outside of downtown. BTW, though we'll have 0/5/10/25-hour monthly plans, we'll also offer a 50-hour plan -- suitable for a household with several drivers, or a business with several employees. The same logic applies to the i-Go 100-hour plan -- one billing plan, many individual customers. Ryan McKenzie - CityWheels www.citywheelscleveland.com