West Seattle car-sharing: ReachNow adds part of the peninsula

Another car-sharing service just added part of West Seattle to its territory. Three years after Car2Go expanded into this area, BMW-owned ReachNow has added north West Seattle. Here’s the map of what’s now part of the service’s “home area”:

(See the full Seattle-wide map here, as a PDF.) The company says it’s added 150 four-door MINI Clubman cars to its Seattle fleet, which now numbers 520, also including “the all-wheel-drive BMW 3 Series, the electric BMW i3, and the MINI Hardtop two- and four-door.” Along with ReachNow and Car2Go – which has 750 Smarts in the city – West Seattle also is served by Zipcar, which recently added one-way trips to its offerings.

Sue June 28, 2016 (11:25 am)

What an odd choice of service area. You would think they’d include more of the area between Alaska and Morgan Junctions. This is also the first time I’m hearing of this company, so they really should do some better outreach/advertising if they’d like to be successful.

JanS June 28, 2016 (12:18 pm)

I’ve heard of them…saw a billboard for them. They are high-end cars, and expensive. It may be a misconception that there’s more money in the Admiral area… I can attest to the misconception…I live here – lol…

technoluxe June 28, 2016 (1:44 pm)

They’re not exactly “high-end” cars (BMW 3 series, i3, and Mini Coopers), but definitely better quality than Car2Go Smart Cars. I signed up for ReachNow weeks ago while they were running a free signup promo a few weeks ago and have used it while downtown and in Queen Anne last weekend at Pride. The price is comparable to Car2Go. Signup process was easier, too.

Not sure if Sue has been living under a rock or doesn’t get out of West Seattle much, but ReachNow been pretty popular and they’ve received a lot of press lately. Their cars are everywhere downtown! They’re a little harder to spot since they’re not as distinctive as the C2G Smart Car. I live a few blocks west of the Alaska Junction and use Car2Go all the time when I hit Capitol Hill or downtown for evening fun (no need to pay for parking!), then take an Uber back if I’ve been drinking or otherwise don’t feel like driving. I loathe driving those puny Smart Cars, though — they’ve got an awfully large blind spot, and there’s very little pickup so it’s hard to maneuver quickly in response to things in the road, or merge onto a freeway, or something. I can’t wait until more ReachNow cars are available (I’m on the service area along Alaska) so I can ditch C2G altogether!
Mike June 29, 2016 (7:46 am)

The typical 2016 Camry is the same price as the BMW 3 series they are offering to use. People have this weird notion that BMW is high end. There are high end models, but most people drive the common mans Bimmer. This is why other countries use BMW, Audi and Mercedes for taxis.

M June 28, 2016 (12:21 pm)

Morgan Junction Please

Rick June 28, 2016 (12:22 pm)

Do businesses get a break when these car to go’s sit in front of their business with 2 hour parking blocking spots for hours so they can make a buck. I should give my tax dollars directly to them.

Scott June 28, 2016 (4:13 pm)

These car sharing services are delivering customers directly to businesses’ front door. Also, ReachNow paid $532,000 for access to parking spots for 2016, and Car2Go $1.3 million.
Peter June 29, 2016 (8:51 am)

No they do not. Businesses have no more right to use of the public right of way than anyone else, and these services pay the city millions of dollars to park in what are otherwise free spaces in West Seattle.
Peter June 29, 2016 (8:53 am)

And I should add these cars never sit for hours as you claim. They’re there for others to use after someone parks them. That’s how these services work.

WestSeattleSteve June 28, 2016 (12:41 pm)

It could be the lack of bus service except at rush hour in the north end. I see car2go vehicles on my block now and then. I wonder if there’s a scatter map showing usage be neighborhood.

Alan June 28, 2016 (12:43 pm)

This doesn’t appear to be an area picked for its affluence, as the line is drawn going east to west and it includes a fairly economically diverse area. If you look at the full map of Seattle, you can see that no area is left out going east to west. I’m sure people north of Northgate Way are wondering why they were excluded as well, but lines have to get drawn somewhere and presumably they will expand (or contract) depending on the success.

wb June 28, 2016 (1:04 pm)

Thanks WSB, I drove by two parked “Reachnows” this morning. I didn’t know it was car sharing–thought it was the name of an organization. The more competition the better.

Peter June 28, 2016 (1:23 pm)

Putting their boundary at Alaska doesn’t make much sense. They’re cutting the densest, most populous neighborhood in West Seattle in half, whereas you’d think it would be prime territory for them.

Jon June 28, 2016 (2:22 pm)

Part of their license with the city is that they are required to provide service to the entire city after two years (I think). Give it a little more time and the ‘home area’ will move further south. Honestly I wasn’t expecting them to expand into WS this quickly.

WSince86 June 28, 2016 (4:34 pm)

A serious question… What are the rules for parking ride share vehicles? I’ve often wondered about the same thing Rick brought up.

Sue June 29, 2016 (10:18 am)

Here are the rules for Car2Go in Seattle. https://www.car2go.com/US/en/seattle/parking/ (make sure you scroll all the way down for the restrictions. It’s essentially any legal street parking spot that allows parking for 1+ hours, and as long as it doesn’t change into a restricted spot at some point (such as “no parking from 4-6pm”).

WSince86 June 30, 2016 (6:05 pm)

Thanks Sue. Interesting! And I also beg to differ, Peter. I have seen theses cars parked for not only hours, but days, in front of my business and in front of my house.

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