PhillyCarShare adds monthly $15 fee

PhillyCarShare Inc., a pioneering car-sharing organization, has told its 30,000 Philadelphia members that it will implement a mandatory $15-a-month fee tomorrow to simplify marketing and stabilize its cash flow.

Organization members were informed of the change in an e-mail last Friday and have this week to decide whether to accept the change.

"We'll see," was what the group's acting executive director, Eli Massar, said of the member response.

In the last six to eight months, the nonprofit organization has reduced its fleet about 100 cars because of the weaker economy, Massar said, but maintains about 325 vehicles.

"We are downsizing the fleet, but not having the cars repossessed," Massar said, referring to chatter on Philadelphia-area blogs.

The group allows members to lease a car by the hour, or day, and competes with the for-profit Zipcar.

The seven-year-old PhillyCarShare has 50 employees and an estimated $10 million in annual revenue.

Massar, who was a cofounder of the group, said the $15-a-month fee makes PhillyCarShare more sustainable as an organization.

"We are moving onto the next phase of our business, which is to be a permanent part of the regional transportation infrastructure," he said.