Car-sharing service Car2Go announced in an email to members that “after careful consideration” it will stop operating in Columbus at the end of this month.
"Despite our best efforts and investment, there has not been enough adoption of our service to continue operations here," the company said in the email.
Car2Go said the service will run through May 31, but fewer vehicles will be available as the date approaches.
The rideshare company launched its Columbus service in 2013. It was the first company to bring a one-way, park-anywhere car-share to the city.
Nik Olah, who lives downtown, doesn’t own a car. Instead, he says he relies on Car2Go.
“Especially when we had that brutal cold snap, I could still go a mile or two on my bike," Olah says. "But if I needed to go farther, Car2Go filled that gap."
Olah only uses Car2Go once or twice a month in the summers, but in the winter, he estimates he uses the car-sharing service 10 to 20 times a month.
“It’s going to be rough. I am going to have to figure out what I’m going to do without Car2Go,” Olah says. “Hopefully some other company will come in and fill that gap.”
Josh Williams will also have to adjust to life without Car2Go. He lives in the Short North and works downtown at the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Once I am down here, I’m without a car," Williams says. "So it’s been super convenient, if I need to run an errand on the other side of downtown or run somewhere on my lunch break, it’s been super convenient to hop in a car and drive across town and come back and be done with it. Really simple.”
In its statement, Car2Go says it hopes to resume service in Columbus if demand increases.
