Sometimes, owning a vehicle just doesn’t make any sense. In major cities monthly parking fees can often exceed $500 per month. Combine that with gas prices, insurance, and maintenance and you are looking at a big chunk of change. 

There’s a unique market developing for transportation that fits better with the changing lifestyles of today’s society. Several companies are stepping in and changing the way we think about vehicle ownership. 

On-demand vehicle rental services, like zip-car, store vehicles in centralized locations and let drivers access the vehicle via app. Similarly, companies like turo and getaround let car owners lend out their vehicles to other drivers on a short term or monthly basis. 

Subscription based vehicle services are also starting to pop up in major cities. 

Zebra is a new company that offers a monthly subscription to an electric scooter complete with stylin’ black and white stripes.

A company called canoo just announced it will be offering a monthly subscription to an electric SUV starting in 2021. They are also introducing a point system which can help lower costs to the consumer by referring customers or answering survey questions. 

There are dozens of other similar companies, but the point is that society is beginning to shift from an ownership model to an access model. 

This shift will be largely beneficial in some ways, like greatly increasing access to electric vehicles to the general public. The transition could also ultimately lower the amount of vehicles on the road, with people only driving when absolutely necessary. 

Society is shifting and changing consumer trends like this will continue to pop up. It’s an exciting time in our history.