Car-Sharing Bonanza: Zipcar and Flexcar Merge

Reports from both coasts are announcing that car-sharing companies Zipcar and Flexcar are going to merge. Technically, it looks like Boston-area-based Zipcar will absorb the smaller Seattle-based Flexcar; together, the new company will have 5,000 vehicles and 180,000 subscribers in 48 cities from Seattle to London. The company will retain the Zipcar moniker, and Flexcar CEO Mark Norman, above left, will stay on board as president and chief operating officer (Scott Griffith, above right, remains Zipcar CEO).

Flexcar has concentrated on the West Coast market, while Zipcar operates mostly in the East, as well as in London, Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto. In two overlapping markets, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., the combined fleets will offer more cars and more locations to its members. United under a single brand, the company hopes that the continent-wide coverage will help it scale up its service and ultimately help convince more people that they don't have to own their own cars. Stay tuned for more; TreeHugger likes the idea of car sharing so we hope that the new Zipcar will also be an improved one as well. ::Zipcar and ::Flexcar via ::AutoblogGreen