It seems almost too simple: one card that gives access to the trains, buses, and a local car-sharing program. The Smart Card is Chicago-based nonprofit I-Go Car Sharing's idea to extend public transportation to include public cars. According to a recent study, most cars in Chicago -- Fast Company's 2008 City of the Year -- sit parked 95% of the time. "We have to make better use of our assets," says I-Go CEO Sharon Feigon. "We want to integrate the public-transit systems and car sharing any way we can, and sharing one card is a good way to demonstrate that these different ideas are linked." The pilot program started in January with 5,000 Smart Cards and more than 200 cars. Coming soon: shareable plug-in hybrids that can power up at kiosks with real-time info on buses and trains.
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Related Stories: | Topics:Technology, Magazine, Fast Cities, chicago, Smart Card, Chicago, Sharon Feigon, Taipei, Tucson, Houston |
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Recent Comments | 26 Total
June 5, 2009 at 11:15am by Lynn Becker
You're far too easily pleased. Universal smart cards are a great idea, but they're a bit of band-aid for a city in deep financial crisis that still socks away billions in tax increment financing districts while essential city services starve and an entrenched mayor skews every policy towards his obsessive dream of a 2016 Olympics, even who steals from the city's future for quick funds today through 75 to 100 year leases of vital city assets.
July 19, 2009 at 10:24am by Jason Seoul
Chicago has given us many icons. The iconic NBA team Chicago Bulls as well as the President of USA, Mr. Barack Obama. I'm really amazed of how a vibrant city like Chicago is capable of rolling out so many surprises.
If President Obama were to spear head the Olympic Campaign, who knows we might be able to see the Olympics happening in Chicago in 2016.
Jason Seoul
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October 30, 2009 at 5:27am by Liontin Myer
Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, a stunning defeat for the city that was expected to be one of the two finalists. Not even the presence of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — nor a long list of celebrities — was enough to help the United States' third-largest city.
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November 5, 2009 at 12:32pm by Eric Sandler
Obama is probably Chicago's most prominent export.
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