Metra and Car Sharing

 

Car sharing offers the convenience of driving a car—a car that has all expenses covered—when and where you need to go! Car sharing is similar to renting in that you pay a fee to use the vehicle, but with car sharing you have greater flexibility in using the car and typically less cost. It is ideal for traditional Metra commuters who regularly travel to work in downtown Chicago and, from time to time, need a car for a midday meeting. Rather than driving their own car during morning and evening rush hour traffic and parking at expensive downtown lots, they can still use Metra for their commute and use a car-sharing vehicle any time they need. With an abundance of downtown Chicago car-sharing locations, there’s usually a car when and where you need it. Car sharing is a convenient option for Metra passengers who need a car for a short period of time at their destination, including select suburban stations.

In addition to traditional car sharing providers like Zipcar and the peer-to-peer car share service, Getaround, now offers sharing options in Chicago. For more information and maps of car sharing locations in our area, please follow the Zipcar and Getaround links below. Metra and car sharing makes your life easier!

Features and advantages of car sharing

  • Membership based, individuals belong to a car sharing program that  provides access to that organization’s complete fleet of vehicles at all of their locations
  • Low annual membership fees
  • Low hourly usage rate; all expenses of operating/owning the vehicle are covered by the organization (includes fuel, maintenance, insurance and more)
  • Use a vehicle for the amount of time you need; use the car hourly, or by the day
  • Convenient locations  throughout the city with a number of suburban Metra stations as well
  • 24-7 operation
  • Reserve cars via web, desktop or mobile

Features and advantages of peer-to-peer car sharing

  • Similar to traditional car sharing on many features but, like the AirBnB model, private car owners make their personal vehicles available
  • No membership fees! Simply signup using your Facebook account
  • Assortment of vehicles, with variable hourly rates (based on car specs)
  • Chicago Shared-Use Mobility Center pilot project with Center for Neighborhood Technology

Car share locations

For downtown Chicago and select suburban destinations, please visit individual Metra station pages or:

 
Metra does not endorse any car sharing program over any other. Rather, Metra provides these links as a courtesy to Metra passengers who may need innovative connections at select Metra stations.