Making your way around L.A. without owning a car keeps getting easier. Today’s example: the launch of a brand-new car-sharing service by General Motors that will make a fleet of their cars available for on-demand hourly rentals.
Want to get behind the wheel of a new Chevy Volt, Cadillac Escalade or one of GM’s other signature rides for a tool around town? All you’ll need to do is download the Maven City app and sign up, according to Fortune. There is no initial or monthly fee and, the company claims, drivers should be approved in only about 48 hours.
From there, you just pick up your car and pay per hour, with rates starting at just $8, similar to their competitor Zipcar. Right now, there are about 60 cars stationed in areas around Downtown L.A. and Little Tokyo and a few stations around USC. If the program is a hit, one can assume more cars will continue to come online.
Los Angeles isn’t GM’s first market for Maven City. The service is already up and running in San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Historically, Angelenos may have had a reputation of being stuck in our ways of owning individual cars, but things are changing rapidly, particularly in the dense Downtown areas, so it makes sense for more companies to be jumping on the bandwagon. Plus, even if you do own your own car, the idea of picking up a big SUV or truck for an afternoon of flea market or furniture shopping might be reason enough to sign up.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.
