Car sharing is hot: But will it play in Peoria?

Now that Cash For Clunkers is as dead as the gas guzzlers it pulled off the road, let's revisit a more basic money-saving transportation question; why own a car at all?

Impractical to consider going carless? Not for some people, if the continuing growth of time-share autos as popularized by Zipcar and similar services holds. But would it work for you?

We've written about this concept before. Zipcar participants pay a yearly membership fee for the right to rent on a per-hour basis one of a fleet of autos stationed nearby. Campuses are a particularly appropriate locations for Zipcars, because of the high density of population and infrequent demand residents might have for a car.