And I must admit I unexpectedly used zipcar in the city earlier this week, after all my fancy talk about not having a use for it. We bought a table; it was expensive; we rented a pickup for an hour for $17 instead of paying $85+tip for delivery (within a fun two-hour window). There is a garage with zipcar on my block so we were able to unload the table in that garage's entryway, return the car, then take the table inside. Seeing as this city would rather give parking away for free to my spot-squatting motorist neighbors than let me use a space for an hour a year to unload stuff, it's nice to have an option aside from illegal and dangerous double-parking.

But I would happily give it all up in exchange for serious city driving regulation. If an NYC license were appropriately difficult and expensive to obtain, I certainly wouldn't bother and would just take delivery on such occasions.

We set up a false choice when we say you either need a car or you don't. It's much more complicated than that. The good news is that New York is uniquely positioned among U.S. cities to radically remake its infrastructure and transit system to make sure even fewer people "need" to drive in the city.

The point is that the government should create a multi-modal system that is based in current realities, with the ultimate goal of moving more people away from everyday car use. Allowing people to make certain trips in cars when a car is the best option seems reasonable. Are you really going to take your anti-car anger out on a guy who uses a car once a month who, when he's not driving, bikes, walks, takes the subway and, occasionally, joins the streetsblog community for these discussions? Thanks!

I agree with Eric that NYC driving regulars are the pot calling the zipcar kettle black, as a group. I just fought my way home through the going-out-by-car crowd, the worst crowd of them all, and there were no skittish zipcars to be seen among their wrong way driving, crosswalk parking, and general awfulness. Just a bunch of taxis-gone-wild contesting the asphalt with motorized local idiots. I actually stopped for a minute in the "buffered" Lafayette bicycle lane to prevent a taxi from motoring down it, then gave up on him obeying any semblance of traffic law—it's only life and death!—and rode down the lane with his taxi in tow. Arriving at Grand Street was a great relief as usual. So... when I suggest that city drivers should be held to vastly more rigorous standards, it is with the conviction that most people who see themselves as excellent city drivers, professional or amateur, would be quickly deprived of the privilege of threatening my life.

Dougq, which Fairway? I've started shopping by bicycle at the one in Red Hook, a ten minute ride from downtown Brooklyn, and it is so awesome I don't know what to do. It has got to be a hundred times more fun than driving and parking a zipcar, and is also free. (See, I just don't get their model. It exposes the high costs of driving so well, that, you don't do it.) My only concern is that the handful of bike racks there are going to be completely full this summer when cycling participation hits its yearly peak, which I predict will be at least another third higher than last year's.

Secession is probably a topic that's more closely aligned with the Livable Streets Network's goals than we yet realize.

You have to look beyond the streets of Manhattan or Brooklyn to see that some people need cars. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with that. Many people in this big city live beyond the reach of a subway line or bus stop. There are certain populations (the elderly, the handicapped) for whom public transportation or walking isn't always possible. Obviously, what needs to change is the idea that a car can and should be used for EVERYTHING by ANYONE.

I don't need a car to commute to work. But I live in a neighborhood with no decent grocery store and walking my granny cart to the nearest one is darn near impossible. So once a month I rent a Zipcar and stock up at Fairway. Hundreds of other people are probably using that same Zipcar every month to do the same thing. Believe me, if everyone only Zipcar or other car sharing services, this city would be a much better place.

I believe you'll find they are underrepresented in accident statistics.

Anyway, just speculation; I'd love some science.

When I get behind the wheel of a Zipcar rental in New York, I defer to cyclists, yield for pedestrians, and drive with alertness precisely because I'm frequently the one who is biking or walking on a city street. I'm aware that the person on a bike is probably someone not to different from me, and find an immediate commonality with that person. I also know that saving one minute during my drive to the grocery store or to visit family is not worth risking someone else's life.

There's also an argument to be made that the comfortable, experienced drivers are the ones who might take road safety for granted. After all, if you own a car, drive the same route day after day and nothing bad happens year after year, you might grow complacent. If one day something changes, your brain might not be conditioned to expect the change. That's as likely a scenario for an accident as any other, in my opinion.

I think we set up a false dichotomy when we assume that people in this city are either drivers or they are not. (Or that they are either used to driving all the time and to every place or they are not.) Some of us are both drivers and pedestrians, depending on the need. I take the subway to work, bike to the coffee shop, walk around my neighborhood, and drive to the grocery store every now and then. The more we make this an "us versus them" battle, the more we fight. But the more we realize that sometimes even the biggest livable streets advocate has to get behind the wheel of a car -- or, gasp, even enjoys the occasional drive -- the better off we'll be.

City driving is typically intimidating to newbies, and un-confident drivers seem to me just as liable to cause wrecks as the ones who are hopped up on testosterone and looking at the sky as they accelerate through intersections.

Anecdote time: my suburban, SUV-bound mother's story of the first time she drove in Manhattan. She said a series of trucks just "drove her onto the sidewalk." Yes, she drove on the sidewalk, to get out of the way of what her country experience told her were aggressive semitrailers.

At least Zipcar doesn't rent SUVs. (Their competitors do.)

Zipcar accountholders are a self-selected pool, who:

- rarely drive, let alone in the city
- are unfamiliar with their car, because a new one every time,
- advertise themselves as such, to other drivers, via logo

Holding a Zipcar account should be a mark of shame. I'd adore a City-class driver's license, the same way I'd like to see SUVs licensed separately and tolled additionally (or even barred from entry).

Some newbie sociologist should make herself a Ph. D. by demonstrating that Zipcar accountholders are awful at driving, and that they should stop.