market for personal car sharing
services like Getaround.
HB 3149, a bill that would make it easier for personal car-sharing programs to start in Oregon, passed the House Transportation and Economic Development Committee by a vote of 7-1 yesterday. As we shared last fall, “peer-to-peer” car-sharing is a growing trend across the U.S. and there’s a lot of potential for more of it in Oregon.
The bill itself would make the practice easier by prohibiting insurance companies from cancelling or altering a policy simply because the vehicle is a part of a personal vehicle sharing network.
P2P car-sharing is similar to rental services like Zipcar, but instead of signing up for the service with a company, you rent time on a car directly from private citizens. GetAround.com is one popular service that is already eyeing the Oregon market.
The upside for bike and sustainable transportation advocates is that if more people have the ability to borrow a car only when they need it, they’ll be more selective in taking trips and they won’t have to purchase a car for themselves. More sharing means fewer cars on the road. It would also expand the car-sharing market, which would allow more Oregon families to live without a car of their own (and all the associated costs).
You can learn more about car-sharing in Oregon on the excellent Sightline blog.
HB 3149 will now move to a vote on the House floor and then it’s onto the Senate. The bill is sponsored by House Representative Ben Cannon (D-Portland) and Senator Jackie Dingfelder (D-Portland).