Car Sharing Barcelona and Car Pooling

People's interest in alternative ways to travel is growing, because it's cheaper and eco-friendly, so let's talk about Car Sharing Barcelona! First of all, we have to distinguish Car Sharing from Car Pooling, which is also very popular now. Car Pooling is when an individual, as member of a car pooling community, shares his own car with other members, generally for short distances. Car Sharing is similar to car rentals, but community based. In fact, in UK it also known as "Car Club". Members get easy access to a car when they need it, but without all the expense and hassles of owning a car of their own.  Users pay a small annual membership, and after that it's pay-as-you-go. Vehicles are owned by the Car Sharing company, and can be rented by the hour, or for days at a time.  And fuel costs, vehicle maintenance and insurance are all included in the price.

Car Sharing Barcelona: how it works

Barcelona Green revolution, successfully started with the Bicing experiment, and now also Car Sharing. Barcelona's  most popular Car Sharing network is Avancar, owned by the American Zipcar. You can find many other Car Sharing companies, that work basically in the same way:

1 - Become a member and get your Smart Card.

You only have to register online, create an account and pay a monthly fee. There are different tariffs depending on how much you're planning on using the service. The Smart Card will allow you to unlock/lock the car you are going to use.

2 - Search on the Car Sharing Barcelona map to find the nearest cars.

3 - Choose your car

Each car has a detailed page, with  features and costs, and location in real time.