Member Survey FAQ

Philadelphia Plan members enjoy the lowest possible rates on nearly 25% of our fleet, and hybrid rates on over half! Keystone Plan members have access to their lowest rates (standard vehicles) on just under 75% of the fleet.

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The tax on reservations includes 6% state sales tax, 2% Philadelphia sales tax and 2% state vehicle rental tax. Additionally, for each reservation, there is a PA Public Transportation Assistance Fund (PTA) Fee of $2.00 for each day or part of a day for which a vehicle is rented.

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When making a reservation, the system estimates Philadelphia Plan members will drive 7 miles for each hour that you reserve, with a daily cap of 85 miles. While driving, the onboard computer records how many miles you actually drove. At the end of the month, a calculation is done on your invoice to determine a credit or an amount owed. If you drove less than estimated, you’ll receive driving credits on your invoice. If you drove more than estimated, the additional charge will be added to your invoice.

The estimated mileage is usually pretty close to the actual mileage for most members. You may have a different experience every once in a while, but it’s also a pretty reliable way to make sure that you’ve almost always paid enough for your reservation with the estimate – so you won’t have to pay again once your invoice posts!

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If you cancel a reservation you won’t ever be charged mileage for that reservation! We want to make the most cars available to the most people in Philly all the time, so we make it cheaper for you to cancel your reservation than to keep a car booked if you don’t need it.

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The posted rates for the Philadelphia Plan do not include mileage or taxes. Rates for the Keystone Plan do include 185 miles per reservation but do not include taxes.

Compare our rate plans!

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• Use of vehicle
• Maintenance
• Fuel (we’ll reimburse you quickly if you need to fill ‘er up yourself)
• $1 million of insurance coverage
• 24-hour roadside assistance for vehicle malfunctions
• Keystone Plan includes 185 miles per reservation

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We absolutely do provide around-the-clock emergency and troubleshooting assistance for members with an active reservation.

While Member Services is happy to help create, change or cancel a reservation from 7am – 11pm everyday, you have 24/7 access to online and automated phone reservation systems. For billing questions and other less time-sensitive issues, Member Services is available Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm. They’ll respond to your email or voicemail within 24 hours, so if you think up a good question at 2am, shoot a line to info@phillycarshare.org!

As a PhillyCarShare member, you’re supporting your local economy. You never have to pay extra to talk to a live person and when you call or email, and you get to a real person who lives and works right here in Philadelphia. We know our way around Philly’s streets, we’re all members sharing the same cars that you do, and we do our best to make your car sharing experience easy – every time!

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Philadelphia Plan members are able to reserve at special day rates:

The daily rate is the maximum rate you will pay for up to a 24-hour period in a vehicle. The system does indeed default to the daily from hourly – it happens when your hourly charges reach the daily amount.

Just like hourly rates, the daily rate does not include mileage or taxes, so the rate you see covers only the time and the price you pay will be higher.

So when will the hourly rate default to daily? It depends on the day and model of vehicle. Here’s a chart that breaks it down:

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For residential members on the Philadelphia Plan, you have two options on how to pay your membership fees. You can pay $15/month or you can pay $125/year. This yearly option debuted in May 2009. Details about rate plans are on our website if you’d like more information.

Member Services can change your rate plan for you - email anytime at info@phillycarshare.org or call 215-730-0988, option 5 during regular business hours (9AM-5PM, Monday through Friday). Rate plan changes will always take effect at the end of the month that you switch – so you can get in touch anytime during the month to change your rate plan for the next month.

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Philadelphia Plan members receive the lowest rates possible — the following vehicles are available at $3.45 per hour during the week:

as of 02/04/2010

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You will find that PhillyCarShare’s rates are sometimes higher than rental cars for daily usage. This occurs most frequently on weekends when rental companies put their cars “on sale”. That is their off-peak time, and weekends (as you’ve probably noticed) are a busy time for car sharing. You will find that PhillyCarShare’s weekday daily rates are very competitive to rental cars. This is because there is less demand for our vehicles during the week. A vehicle used for a full day on weekends could displace 5 or more hourly-sharing members on that day. That is why we discourage daily usage on weekends. And how about this: only about 4% of reservations last year were for a daily use… most car share members use us for quick trips.

To tie in this answer to the mission: PhillyCarShare would like its vehicles to be available to the greatest number of members possible. PCS is not a car rental company and does not encourage full day rentals. Members do occasionally need a vehicle for a full day use and PhillyCarShare tries to make vehicles available to them at a reasonable price. The mission is to reduce automobile dependency, and by meeting the needs of members, they can reduce their ownership of private vehicles. PhillyCareShare encourages the use of SEPTA, bicycles, walking, taxis, and rental cars.

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In the original PhillyCarShare business model, each vehicle came equipped with a credit card that could be used for fuel purchases. In 2008, when gas prices rose past $4.00 per gallon, it became clear that this plan wasn’t sustainable; PhillyCarShare became the victim of individuals who found new and unique ways to use our gas card for their own financial gain. Some made reservations and used our fuel cards to fill up non PhillyCarShare vehicles while others simply broke the windows of our vehicles to steal fuel cards. At that time we removed all fuel cards from our vehicles (and began saving tens of thousands of dollars per month!).

Our member surveys also reflected the notion that members didn’t want to be bothered filling up vehicles during a reservation. They viewed this act as an imposition and didn’t like paying for usage time that they had to spend looking for a gas station and fueling. We can appreciate that sentiment. So what to do?

The Solution:

• In 2009 PhillyCarShare hired folks to gas up your vehicles at night. This crew is charged with identifying vehicles that have recently been driven and are likely to require fueling. They also clean the interiors of vehicles and check for safety and maintenance issues. This created four local jobs.
• In some cases a vehicle that requires fueling will be reserved by a member and our refuelers will not be able to access the vehicle. In this case the member will still be responsible for purchasing gasoline if the gauge reads less than one quarter full. If your reservation is one of the 5% that need to fuel, please submit your receipt for reimbursement.
• We have streamlined our reimbursement procedures. When a member submits a reimbursement form we will quickly reimburse by giving the account driving credits, reimbursing the credit card on file, or sending a check. PhillyCarShare has been known to reimburse driving credits (the quickest way to get reimbursed) in as little as 24 hours. (P.S. you earn the air miles!)

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The rate charged for each vehicle is based upon the purchase price and cost of maintaining the vehicle. If the Prius was priced as an Economy car, it would not cover its operational cost.

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Besides a cleaning by our refueling staff, the vehicles are professionally detailed regularly. This includes washing the exterior, and vacuuming and steam-cleaning the interior. Believe us, they are sparkly and fresh when they get back! It’s up to our members to keep the vehicles sparkling as long as possible: take your trash and wipe up any spills. We know you hate it when the person before you disrespected the car – break the cycle and keep your neighborhood car nice and clean.

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We use automatic direct debit for your usage – it’s fast, easy, and secure. Your account has your credit card on file and we use that card for all the charges to your account. We rely on you to keep that billing info up-to-date because we charge your card on file each time you (or one of the drivers on your account) make a reservation.

At the end of each month, we review all of your driving for the month and then credit or debit you for any difference in what you prepaid and what you drove; everything is listed on your invoice. Philadelphia Plan members who drove less than we estimated will see a credit on their invoice. If any member drives more than the allotted 185 miles on the Keystone Plan, or more than the estimated trip mileage on the Philadelphia Plan, they’ll see the charge on their invoice. And if you get any credits from trips, we will put that credit towards other trips if they need it!

We post your invoice to your online account on the 5th of each month and we charge any balance due on the 10th. We leave those five days in between posting and charging give you a chance to review your invoice and make sure that you’re not surprised by the charge on the 10th!

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