If you have a minute to spare after booking your I-GO reservation, you should check out this great website, Chicago Gas Prices. Not only can you find the cheapest spots to refuel around the city, but you also have the chance to win prizes (like $250 in prepaid gas!) if you join in the effort by reporting fuel prices you see while out and about in your I-GO vehicle.
The website also provides other handy tools such as: fuel price maps (both local and national), fuel logbooks, fuel tax info, mobile widgets and more.
Who’s got the cheapest gas in the Chicagoland area today? As of this blog post, that honor belongs to the Sam’s Club in Northlake on 141 W. North Ave & Railroad Ave., offering $2.61 per gallon. As you can see in the local price snapshot below, gas was much more expensive this time last year.
The analysts can’t agree on the cause, but here’s an ugly fact: Americans are now pumping out a billion bucks a day to refuel their cars according to an article today in the New York Times.
All the more reason to choose car sharing as your go-to transportation option—especially in Illinois, where the price tags at the pump are among the highest in the nation.
Automotively speaking, sometimes all you can do is cry about it—over a slice of the Onion:
We saw it last summer when gas prices soared into the stratosphere, and we may see it again: a huge increase in I-GO applicants attracted by one undeniably attractive benefit: Car sharing members don’t pay for gas. Ever.
Good piece in the Chicago Tribune yesterday analyzing the prospects for a repeat of last year’s rocketing fuel prices at the pump.
We’re not rooting for the oil robber barons of the world, mind you, or the speculators hoping to ride their coattails. But whatever the reasons, fossil fuels are environmentally disastrous no matter how you slice and dice their economic impact.
Ever wonder just how much you’re saving by not owning a car? Check out the cost breakdown of one of our members’ yearly driving expenses. Car sharing is about more than just “going green”—it can also save you some dough! And in today’s economy, that’s something we’re all trying to do…
According to a recent article in Japan Today, car sharing is catching on in Japan as well as here in the U.S.. The article claims that, “car sharing is shifting into a higher gear in Japan as people try to save on car maintenance costs and be more environmentally friendly at the same time,”.
While car sharing is growing, car sales are down. Vehicle sales in Japan hit a 28-year low in 2008, according to the figures released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA). Annual sales are expected to fall again in 2009. “We never imagined sales would fall this badly,” said JADA Director, Takeshi Fushimi. “This is a bleak situation.”
What is a bleak situation for auto dealers is great news for Japanese car sharing organizations. According to a survey done by the Eco-Mo Foundation, there were 19 car sharing organizations in Japan, with a total of 522 cars being shared by 3,875 members, as of August 2008. The numbers of cars and car stations more than doubled and the number of registered car sharing members increased by half since the same survey was done in January of 2007. Below is a photo of a car sharing site at a condominium in Japan.
Will Barack Obama’s childhood island state become the first in the nation to fully support a transition to electric vehicles?The President-Elect has made it clear he plans to make sustainability and green-collar jobs top priorities during his administration. Now, Hawaii is attempting to lead the country in adopting use of all-electric vehicles. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the greed and lack of vision we’ve been witnessing on Capitol Hill as the Big Three automakers beg for a bail-out.
This past Tuesday, Hawaii announced plans to become the first state in the U.S. to create a statewide electric recharging network for electric cars. The Hawaiian state government has joined forces with Better Place, an ambitious start-up that I posted about earlier this year, in an effort to make all-electric vehicles a reality by building car charging and battery swapping stations around the islands and purchasing renewable energy from Hawaiian Electric Co., the state’s largest utility.
They plan to have the recharging stations up and running by 2011, and to have built 50,000 to 100,000 charging spots across the state by early 2012.Shai Agassi, Better Place’s founder and CEO, claims the electric cars will cost the same as gas powered cars — at first. However, over time, electric cars will be less expensive to make because they use far less parts than cars with internal combustion engines.
In late November, San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area cities also announced plans to join forces with Better Place to create an electric recharging network by 2012.However, Better Place chose Hawaii as the first statewide rollout for several reasons: the size of the state, the contained environment and consistent climate the island offers, and the abundance of renewable energy resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal and wave power.
Here are two short clips: one of Agassi and Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle driving one of the Better Place electric vehicles (hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of these cars in the near future), and one of Agassi answering a reporter’s questions about Better Place’s agenda for the Bay Area.
Chicago Tribune reporter (and I-GO member! sweet!) Michael Hawthorne waxes poetic in the Oct. 27 paper on the virtues and growing pains of car sharing in a metro area (Hawthorne’s a resident of Oak Park, where I-GO’s suburban coverage extends, in addition to Evanston). It’s an excellent barometer of where I-GO stands in the public eye at present, and we’re pleased to report that, all said, Hawthorne’s column amounts to an advocacy piece. The Trib’s even posted a online reader poll to discern who among their general readership has used car sharing and who hasn’t. As of noon on Monday, the response was about split among approximately 800 respondents. We’ll consider that a resounding vote of confidence in the value and future of car sharing.
The Illinois Clean Cars Act is an important piece of legislation that will soon be voted on in Springfield.The act would require new cars sold in Illinois to have higher fuel efficiency standards, thus improving air quality and public health, while also reducing global warming pollution.This is Illinois’ opportunity to lead the Midwest in adopting standards that will require auto manufacturers to build cleaner cars.How will this benefit Illinois residents?Check out this interview with Joe Shacter, senior policy advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
To learn more about or take action on this bill, visit the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s website.
I-GO Car Sharing and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced today the launch of a joint smart card program that will allow individuals to use one card for both riding the CTA and accessing I-GO vehicles. There are currently 10 CTA locations with I-GO vehicles and plans to add 8 more. I-GO has 200 cars in 32 Chicago neighborhoods. The combined smart card program is expected to launch by the end of the year.
Check out this Canadian news report on car sharing in Canada. Car sharing is booming in Canada, just as it is in the U.S. and the rest of the world. In fact, the city of Tel Aviv also recently jumped on board with the car sharing concept.
I-GO is already partners with 2 car sharing organizations in Canada- AutoShare, in Toronto and Co-operative Auto, in Vancouver. This means that as an I-GO Car Sharing member, you can also drive AutoShare and Co-operative Auto’s cars when you’re in their respective cities- cool, huh?
I-GO Car Sharing 