Let a Stranger Drive Your Car? More Owners Say 'Yes' http://www.npr.org/2012/03/06/147962028/let-a-stranger-drive-your-car-more-owners-say-yes Personal car-sharing is a new twist on auto rentals http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/15/local/la-me-personal-car-sharing-20120215 Zipcar invests in Wheelz http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2012/02/zipcar-invests-wheelz/VUMLqJn40Y2EEuvIEfCRtL/index.html Wheelz receives $13.7 million to expand beyond Stanford http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/02/23/wheelz-receives-13-7-million-to-expand-beyond-stanford/ A brief history of car sharing http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?a=370287&c=45195 Taking the Wheel: Manufacturers' Catalogs from the First Decade of American Automobiles http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=all&col_id=153 More and more people are looking for ways to save money, and some of this can be done through sharing big-ticket consumer goods. Many people might rent out a room in their home to a student, so why not offer up the use of their car to responsible individuals? Over the past couple of decades, a number of car-sharing services have popped up, and the blossoming of social media has helped them grow by leaps and bounds. One such service is Wheelz, which has gained a foothold in places like Palo Alto, California and northern Virginia. These organizations are formally known as peer-to-peer car sharing services, and they represent a movement towards renting or sharing certain services (such as cars) rather than owning these physical assets outright. Commenting on this development, transportation researcher Susan Shaheen remarked that the concept faces several key hurdles. One is that it will be necessary to clarify car insurance laws, and the other is that it may be difficult to craft a profitable business model. The first link will take interested parties to a short segment from NPR's Morning Edition about the growth in peer-to-peer car sharing services. The second link will lead users to a recent news article from the Los Angeles Times about the growth of these services in the Bay Area. The third link whisks users to an update from the Boston Globe about the Zipcar's recent $13.7 million investment in Wheelz. The fourth link leads to an article from the Stanford Daily about the recent growth of Wheelz in Palo Alto and the surrounding area. Those people interested in the history of car sharing will enjoy the fifth link, provided by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The final link will take curious visitors to a wonderful digital collection from the New York Public Library that offers a sampling from the pages of early automobile manufacturers' catalogs.