Detroit Now Allows Maven Vehicles To Park On City Streets

Maven has taken another step to make car sharing even easier for its membership base. The GM brand and the city of Detroit have partnered to allow Maven vehicles to park on designated streets, which makes it far easier to access a car-sharing vehicle, rather than find parking elsewhere.

The spots are located in downtown, Corktown, Midtown, and Southwest Detroit. Alex Hoolehan, Maven general manager in Detroit, said the partnership for street parking makes it far easier for members to find the vehicles and will help Maven’s pilot program in the city continue to grow.

Previously, Maven had to rent parking spots in various garages around the city. Increased visibility is a bonus, and Hoolehan said Maven vehicle usage has increased. There are six Maven vehicles available across the city, and each has been used multiple times since the street parking launched late last month.

Street parking is highly beneficial to car-sharing services. Another service, Car2Go, once operated a similar partnership in the city of Toronto. When the city ended the partnership, Car2Go was forced to exit the city—a move that shows how difficult it is to find parking in major metro areas.

Maven said it will continue to listen to what its users want, but it also needs to be responsible about how it implements to functions for car sharing, which includes managing parking among other variables. Most recently, Maven launched Peer Cars, which allows GM vehicle owners and certain lessees to rent their cars out via Maven. Effectively, Maven rivals Turo is some areas now.

For now, Maven will continue to operate its pilot and expand across the city as it sees fit. Since 2016, the brand said it operates 17 car-sharing stations in North America and has booked over 300,000 reservations. The brand is home to 215,000-plus members.

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Source: The Detroit News