The American Automobile Association, popularly known as AAA, recently announced that it is launching a new car-sharing service. The AAA is more known for its road assistance services and has been in operation for more than 100 years. As part of its effort to continue delivering transport services, the group will start to offer car-sharing services.
AAA is calling its car-sharing service Gig. Delving into the technological side of things, the group is also establishing an "innovation lab" called A3 Ventures. Gig will be offered to residents of San Francisco and will be launched on April 30.
When it comes to car-sharing services, brands like Uber and Lyft are considered as the big players. Most new competitors will have to come up with new and unique ideas in order to make their service stand out on top of the currently offered ones, and that is what AAA is tapping into.
More than 70 percent of consumers would change driving behaviors to offset increases in gas prices. #AAA https://t.co/MWnQJZl3jV pic.twitter.com/V2Yo2vP3vW
— AAA (@AAAnews) March 28, 2017
AAA's Gig offers a very flexible service. Drivers can opt in to use Gig as a one-way service. They can simply pick up the car at one particular spot and drop it off at a location they so choose. The service is somewhat similar to BMW's ReachNow or Daimler's car2go services, but AAA's Gig is not affiliated to any specific car manufacturer, according to The Drive.
AAA will use Toyota Prius C hybrids for its Gig service. The car-sharing service is open to anyone and is not restricted to AAA members. Users can use or reserve a car using the Gig's smartphone app. Once they are done, they can simply park the car anywhere within the service's designated "home zone."
The cities of Berkeley and Oakland have agreed to allow AAA's Gig to use 250 public parking spaces for its cars. These parking spaces include some spots that are normally metered. The overall rental fee includes both fuel and parking fee. Gig has a minimum charge of $2.50 per trip.
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