If the only thing preventing you from taking public transportation is that it's just too dang far from your house or office, you might be in luck. On Thursday, Metro Los Angeles unveiled a partnership with Getaround, a car-sharing service that will let you rent other people's cars -- in this case, to get to and from Metro stations.
Launching at 27 Metro stations, Getaround has 110 cars at locations throughout Los Angeles County. Both users of the service and car owners who want to rent their vehicle register on Getaround's app, then use it to lock, unlock, start and stop the car.
"There's no physical exchange of car keys," Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero told LAist. "It's all done electronically. It's very easy, and you can instantly reserve a car."
To rent a car, you must have a valid ID, credit card and a Facebook account, all of which are used to verify your identity. (Getaround's western regional manager, James Correa, says that Facebook data is not shared with any other parties.)
If you want to offer your car for rent, you'll earn 60 percent of the fee that users pay, which begins at $5 for lower-end cars and goes up to somewhere around $20, Correa said, although he did not specify a price cap.
Your car must be 2006 or newer and have under 125,000 miles. Cars that have more than 75,000 miles will be inspected by a Getaround rep, Correa said.
Los Angeles is the eleventh city with which Getaround has partnered. The city is hoping to solve the first-mile, last-mile transportation problem, Sotero said.
"One of the biggest challenges people face is getting to [and from] the train station," he said. "This is a possible solution."
In the past, Metro has partnered with ride-hailing service Via to offer rides that cover the first mile and last mile of residents commute. That program was piloted in 2017, and officially announced in January. It offers low-cost rides to and from stations in El Monte, Artesia and North Hollywood.
Getaround cars will be available in many more places. Starting Thursday, you'll find them at the following locations:
- Expo Line: 17th Street/SMC Station, Expo/Bundy Station, Expo/Sepulveda Station, La Cienega/Jefferson Station
- Gold Line: Lincoln/Cypress Station, Heritage Square Station, Sierra Madre Villa Station
- Green Line: Redondo Beach Station, El Segundo Station, Aviation/LAX Station, Hawthorne/Lennox Station, Crenshaw Station, Vermont/Athens Station
- Orange Line: Sherman Way Station, Canoga Station, Pierce College Station, Reseda Station, Balboa Station, Sepulveda Station, Van Nuys Station
- Red Line: North Hollywood Station, Universal City Station, Westlake/MacArthur Station
- Blue Line: Artesia Station, Del Amo Station, Wardlow Station, Willow Station
