The shared car services began their activity as a trend a few years ago, but today it is already a phenomenon that meets a need in all sectors and includes quite a few companies in the market, who report rising demand throughout the country.
Besides the increase in prices, which makes many people think before buying a car, also the traffic jams, car maintenance, the difficulty in finding parking spaces and the issue of environmental quality and green thinking, make people think once more if they can get by in other ways.
For those who are less willing to choose the public transportation services, the cooperative vehicle offers to book a car in the app as needed, and usually it is an offer by the hour.
There are companies that allow by days, similar to car rental.
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The cooperative vehicle has not yet caused a large mass of people to give up the main vehicle of the family, but it is a figure that must be taken into account for those interested in buying a second vehicle.
However, there are those who say that they also gave up the first vehicle following these services.
Autotel car, photo: Guy Yehiali
"I had a car and gave it up about four years ago," says Liran Rosen from Tel Aviv, "I realized that it didn't make sense to own a car in Tel Aviv because I didn't touch it - the public transportation in the city is quite good. I used the car mainly on weekends when I went to Jerusalem for my parents. For this use I was I have to pay for insurance, a test, treatments, repairs, and the car collected dust. I discovered Car To Go (which later became GoTo) through an ad. It works great, because I do everything with the help of the apps: laundry services, food, and more.
"In the last two years, I have a greater awareness of global warming, everyone wants a car and there are more traffic jams and the roads are not prepared for it. All these reasons led me to rent a shared car with gas and insurance only when I need it. It costs me about a third of the previous costs."
And what about the disadvantages?
"Everyone found out and sometimes I don't have a car close to the house, but that's just my laziness. Especially on weekends you have to make a reservation in advance. But it's like anything, you won't be able to order a restaurant at the last minute on Friday either. It's a matter of supply and demand."
City Car vehicle, photo: PR, Getty Images
There are rules - and there are credits
The GoTo company started the cooperative transportation activity 14 years ago in Israel and around the world.
The company operates the Autotel cooperative vehicle activity for the Tel Aviv Municipality.
The company is active with the "return" model in 14 major cities in Israel, and also operates in Madrid and Germany.
According to the company's data abroad, the number of trips using the GoTo application has been steadily increasing and grew in the first half of 2022 in Germany by 59%, and sixfold in Spain. In Israel, new vehicles were recently added to the service in convenient locations, to meet demand. From March 1, the company will offer a promotion for subscribers new ones, within the framework of which they will receive back the first appointment fee of NIS 50, which they will pay back as travel credit.
"We have two services that offer GoTo medium and long-term round-trip travel," notes Tomer Geller, CEO of GoTo Israel, "In this activity, the vehicle leaves a specific parking lot and returns to the same location, and the price starts at NIS 14.90 per hour of travel and there is no commitment for more than an hour.
Our prices include gas and fuel, you have to return with a quarter of each fuel or at least 15% in the battery, but this is at the expense of the company.
And we launched an accumulation card: subscribers who take four trips in a calendar month in the amount of 100 shekels or more per trip will receive a credit of 100 shekels to use the service, and a subscription costs 20-50 shekels per month according to the chosen route.
"Also, we give credits to our subscribers. If they invested and filled up with fuel at the company's expense beyond what is necessary, they will receive credit for the next trip. If they invested time and put it in our Stipomat, they will receive NIS 35 for the next trip."
GoTo vehicle, photo: PR
How far in advance is it advisable to book a car?
"We are fully booked on the weekends, so you have to book at least two to three weeks in advance. Even in the middle of the week you have to book in advance, but then the flexibility is higher - about a week in advance will be enough."
The second service that the company offers, as mentioned, is that of an Autotel in Tel Aviv.
"We won the tender from 2017, and the service includes travel in one direction with a charge per minute, and the vehicle can return to another Otel parking lot. The activity included 260 vehicles, and in light of the success we added 100 vehicles - 50 of which will be replaced in March. The price is NIS 1.7-1.2 per minute , depending on the route. A trip of about 15 minutes will cost up to NIS 20, compared to NIS 35-40 in a taxi. It's also cheaper than a car, because we have about 600 of our own private parking spaces, which is a rare commodity in the city. We do research, and quite a few people They say that the parking problems in Tel Aviv made them give up their car or a second car. As time goes by, it becomes more difficult to find parking, and there is already a congestion tax that they are starting to talk about."
Have you encountered problems with vehicles that have returned damaged or dirty?
"Since these are repeat customers, they return the vehicle to us clean. There is a mutual guarantee, both in cleaning and in maintaining the vehicle. In order for us to fine someone for this, it has to be drastically dirty, and these are only rare cases. But we have clear rules of conduct - it is not allowed Smoking and dogs are not allowed in the car."
And what happens if there is an accident?
"We have a proposal for a monthly payment of NIS 59 and then no deductible is paid. It is also possible to pay an additional NIS 30 per trip. Anyone who does not take out deductible cancellation insurance will, according to the law, pay a maximum payment of up to NIS 2,400. If you caused damage of NIS 300, You will pay NIS 300, but NIS 2,400 is the maximum cost."
Tomer Geller and Hanani Segal, photo: Matanya Segal and Gilad Bar Shelov
"Reasonable accidents covered"
The Shlomo Group operates the shared car service, Shlomo Sixt Share, in about 80 cities throughout Israel, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Afula, Kiryat Motzkin, Petah Tikva, Nahariya and Acre.
The service in Tel Aviv started operating recently, after winning the municipality's tender to operate shared vehicle services for medium-long trips outside the city, and it has 100 shared vehicles placed in approximately 100 parking centers in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
Most of the parking spaces are in the municipal parking lots of the beach estates and sites, as well as in street parking lots marked in blue and white, and are offered free of charge to our customers.
"We launched the service with the understanding that a collaborative economy and public transportation should occupy a larger space because of the congestion and traffic jams," explains Yuval Shani, CEO of Shlomo Technologies, "Usually we are talking about taking a car for 24 hours for 200 shekels for a driving distance of 150 km "m, and returning it to the place from which it was taken. We do not have appointment fees.
"Tel Aviv's model, in accordance with the municipality's tender, is adapted to shorter distances. The customer is charged NIS 79 for three hours of rental. Beyond that, each hour costs NIS 4.5. The price of a trip up to 25 km will cost NIS 1.2, and more than 25 kilometers - only one shekel.
The model includes full deductible cancellation, and even a young driver with a minimum of one year's license experience can drive with us.
Of course negligence and criminal driving are not covered.
Reasonable and reasonable accidents are covered free of charge.
For us, despite the risk, this is part of the jump of collaborative transportation, and we hope it will not be misused.
From two years' experience, this is an audience that loves the service and keeps it."
Liran Rosen and Yuval Shani, photo: Tal Oren and Yehoshua Yosef
"Special activity for the ultra-Orthodox sector"
May Car is active in the ultra-orthodox sector.
Meir Rotam, the company's founder, says: "I founded City Car (a competing company) 11 years ago and sold it five years ago. I recognized the emerging trend of cooperative vehicles while abroad, and I founded that company for the ultra-orthodox sector.
So there were no technological solutions, and we had no choice but to enter the worlds of development and technologies.
After the City Car activity, I continued to work for years in the world of technology and we developed technologies in the field of shared vehicles.
We have the Take Me company, which offers solutions for ordering taxis, deliveries, car pool and more, and this is an activity intended for the ultra-Orthodox sector, most of whom only have kosher phones.
"During the Corona period, we had the opportunity to return as players in the field of shared vehicles, and we established MyCar. Every vehicle has a navigation system. It sounds trivial, but the ultra-Orthodox sector does not have smartphones, so this is an advantage that makes it easier for them. The big news came out with us last week, and its name is ' Bingo. A person traveling in the shared vehicle from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak can add a passenger to him on the way. We have the Take Me system, which connects passengers with the driver of the shared vehicle, and he can pick them up. The passengers pay directly to My Car, and the amount is offset to the driver from the rental fee. If, For example, the trip cost 200 shekels round trip, one way will cost the additional passenger 90 shekels and this will be deducted from the amount the driver has to pay. We take a commission of 5 shekels as an operating fee."
How did the ultra-Orthodox public accept this idea?
"When I started with the cooperative car issue 11 years ago, there was a need to educate the market. In the ultra-Orthodox sector, there was a greater need for this, because they have fewer cars - but larger families. We even receive inquiries asking why it is not possible to pay at Rav-ko, because people drive in these vehicles on a daily basis.
Shlomo Share's car, photo: Ezra Levy
"The cost with us is 12.9 shekels for a small car and 1.5 shekels per kilometer, and this also includes fuel. The large family vehicles cost 17.9 shekels, and cars with 7-9 seats cost 30-35 shekels per hour. Our insurance is basic, with the option of up to 2,000 shekels Deductible If you want to purchase without a deductible, there is an additional NIS 5 per hour.
"At 9-12 in the morning and from midnight to 7 in the morning we offer a 50% discount. Looking at the cost of living, the increase in interest and fuel prices, I believe that we will continue to see the change and people will continue to vote with their feet, because this is a significant saving with environmental values"
Another company that started as such offers a service to the ultra-Orthodox, but appeals to the general market - is City Car, which was mentioned here.
"The company started with greetings in ultra-orthodox cities who had to come to weddings," says Hanani Segal, VP of City Car, "and then we got to tenders with local authorities, when the authority takes over and paints the parking lots for us.
We work with more than 20 cities, including Jerusalem, where you can park in any available blue-white parking lot.
We have more than 1,000 vehicles, with a variety of small, electric and large ones, and this is our only activity.
"The deductible with us is up to NIS 2,000. You can make a reduction, according to which the participation will be up to NIS 300, then if it is a daily rental of NIS 150, you pay an extra NIS 60. If it is hourly, the addition will be NIS 5 per hour. We work six days 24 hours a day, without Shabbat. We have a new app and a human response center, which is always available and serves as a solution for kosher phone owners."
Shlomo Sixt's car, photo: PR
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