Recently, Enterprise announced the acquisition of PhillyCarShare, which serves more than 13,000 members in the Philadelphia area. It created a lot of buzz, not just in Philadelphia, but across our industry, and for good reason.
The fact is, the PhillyCarShare model aligns quite nicely with the grassroots, locally-focused model that has fueled Enterprise’s growth for the last 55 years. It’s really all about creating economic value for our business and customers in ways that also creates value for society, and especially local communities, by addressing their needs and challenges. While this “shared value” concept has recently been brought to the forefront by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in the Harvard Business Review, it’s been part of Enterprise’s DNA for decades.
This focus on creating value at the local level is what’s made joining forces with PhillyCarShare such a natural extension of our business. To that end, we’ll be operating PhillyCarShare right alongside our B2B WeCar by Enterprise car-sharing program, our local Enterprise Rent-A-Car offices, and our Rideshare vanpooling and carpooling commuter services, all of which are collectively designed and integrated to meet the total transportation needs of consumers and business customers from coast to coast.
Consumers and business customers can count on us for something else as well. We will not ease up on our fight against discriminatory car rental taxes, which many elected officials still market as a “visitors tax” but in reality target both out-of-towners and local residents. As you know, these taxes are owed whether vehicles are rented by the hour, the day, the week or longer. (More background on this issue can be found in our Oct. 29th “Enterprise Holdings Stands Up for Car-Sharing Customers” press release and our Aug. 9th PhillyCarShare announcement.) So, we’ll continue to fight unfair car rental excise taxes in Philadelphia – a city synonymous with standing up against “taxation without representation” – and throughout the country.
Moreover, we understand that our company succeeds only if the communities where we do business likewise succeed. As a result, we buy cars and supplies locally, hire locally and pay local taxes. We also support local causes like the United Way, the Urban League and PhillyPatientRide. And, of course, we strategically and reliably provide sustainable local transportation solutions – and that includes using our resources to enhance the PhillyCarShare fleet, increase the number of parking spaces and even more effectively serve the needs of the Philadelphia community for the long term.
- Lee
08/31/2011 by – Kate
I joined PhillyCarShare, despite the fact that it was more expensive than ZipCar, because I like to support non-profits. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thrilled with my experience. I had planned to switch to ZipCar when I received word that you were taking over PhillyCarShare. I decided to give you a chance. In just a few weeks, the maintenance and cleanliness of the cars appears to have improved dramatically. It’s great. Now I can only hope that your prices come down too…
08/31/2011 by – Nathan
Why title your blog entry “what’s next for PhillyCarshare?” if you’re not going to answer that question? This blog entry is full of platitudes and utterly devoid of information.
08/31/2011 by – Aaron
Great to hear that enterprise is fighting against the per-rental tax, the nonpayment of which sunk Philly Car Share.
$2 / rental makes a 15 or 30 minute PCS rental almost twice as expensive, and doesn’t make sense.
Looking forward to good things from this acquisition.
08/31/2011 by – CarShare :(
sellouts
08/31/2011 by – Joseph Caucci
Thanks Lee. Good luck. Been a member of Philly Car Share for about 3 years. It’s a tremendous service. I think I might apply for a job at your company one of these days. It would be great to actually have a job that does such a moral good for society.
09/01/2011 by – Frank
I agree with Nathan. Why title blog post, “What’s Next For Philly Car Share”, then not list ideas or plans for going forward? The only thing I got out of it was a lot of self promotion and back slapping. Don’t congratulate yourselves yet. You’ve only just got started.
- As far as Kate’s comments on the cleanliness of the vehicles, that’s membership’s fault. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve entered a car with trash and personal items left from the last driver. How long does it take to check over the car upon your return? I always do.
- And Finally. – It bothers me that a “Non-Profit” community based company is being swallowed up by a corporation; even one as friendly as Enterprise. I fear that rates will go up and options will dwindle. The statement, “…we’ll be operating PhillyCarShare right alongside our B2B WeCar by Enterprise car-sharing program, our local Enterprise Rent-A-Car offices, and our Rideshare vanpooling and carpooling commuter services” scares me. I see it as corporate-speak for, “We’re dissolving PCS and putting Enterprise in it’s place.” I expect rates to increase, and vehicle pods to disappear sometime after the first six months. If that’s the case, I’ll have no choice but to dissolve my membership.
I sure hope I’m wrong.
09/06/2011 by – Lee Broughton
Frank, I understand your concern. I guess I would ask that you simply give us a chance to follow through on what we said: We fully intend to work with PhillyCarShare to share best practices, enhance the vehicle fleet and continue to provide accessible, affordable and sustainable local transportation options. For example, only three weeks later, there have been no pricing changes and we’ve already refreshed the PCS fleet with more than 130 new vehicles. Beyond that, PhillyCarShare members are able to take advantage of a special Enterprise Rent-A-Car discount. Also please keep in mind that economic sustainability is an integral part of our “shared vision,” as noted in the Aug. 8 Philadelphia Inquirer article. And, just as former PCS Chair Jacob Smith stated in our press release, we believe that our company’s financial strength – combined with our car rental expertise and well-established grassroots approach – makes this an ideal partnership for PhillyCarShare’s members, staff and partners as well as the Philadelphia community at large.
09/01/2011 by – Aaron Dahlstrom
One of the things that was attractive to me about PhillyCarShare was the fact that they carried insurance that exceeded the state minimum liabitility requirement. I understand PCS was carrying $300,000 of insurance. It looks like PA’s state minimum is just $30,000 for injury and $5,000 for property. My understanding is if I am in an accident with a car worth more than my insurance, I can be sued for the difference! When I owned my own vehicle, I carried insurance above the legal limit.
Can you tell us if Enterprise is planning to maintain the previous insurance level provided by PCS? This is a critical issue for me as a 5-year PhillyCarShare member.
09/01/2011 by – Amy
Isn’t Washington DC really the city synonymous with \taxation without representation\?