This law helps about 1,500 Ithacans to get back behind the wheel. Find out how

Ithaca Carshare — a membership-based carsharing service — paused its operations on May 19, leaving the 30 vehicles it manages to lay idle, and its 1,500 members without access to them, leaving many of its members scrambling to find other ways to make it to appointments or their work.

Carshares, including Ithaca’s, provide access to private mobility options for people in low-income neighborhoods and offer grant-funded programs that enable low-income individuals to use the service.

Now, half a year after Gov. Hochul signed Senator Lea Webb and Assembly member Anna Kelles’s Ithaca Carshare bill into law, the legislation goes into effect and the vehicles are on the move again.

“Ithaca Carshare can access the insurance they need through a risk retention group to relaunch operations,” Kelles said in a statement on the legislation. “I heard from hundreds of constituents over the last year about how important carshare is to them and how they relied on it for their transportation needs, so it is exciting to have this vital transportation option returning to our community.”

What will the bill change?

Webb and Kelles’s bill (S5959B/A5718B) passed unanimously through the New York State Legislature in June.

The bill allows nonprofit organizations like Ithaca Carshare to get auto insurance from a nonprofit Risk Retention Group, as is allowed by federal law, solving a long-standing auto insurance market failure for nonprofits.

Ithaca Carshare does not rely on public funds for its general operating budget, instead opting to use membership and usage fees to pay for the service, vehicles, fuel, insurance, repairs and maintenance.

Grants through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) help pay for electric vehicle conversions and supporting equitable access to carsharing.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has invested $3 million so far in carsharing in New York, with millions more planned over the next two years to expand nonprofit carshares as a means of reducing carbon emissions statewide.

According to a Cornell study from 2013, each carshare vehicle replaces up to 15.3 vehicles on the road, easing burdens on transportation infrastructure and the associated costs.

What's next for Ithaca Carshare?

The Ithaca Carshare website confirms the non-profit will reopen in early March, providing access to 24 fuel-efficient vehicles in several Ithaca neighborhoods including Downtown, Northside, Southside, Fall Creek, Collegetown, the West End and around Cornell University.

A statement from the carshare, dated September 15, 2023, extends thanks to Webb and Kelles “for their tireless efforts to get this bill passed and signed, to our members who wrote letters, made phone calls, and showed up to make your voices heard, and to the many supporters across the state who took some form of action in support of this bill.”

Learn more about Ithaca Carshare or sign up on the website: bit.ly/3TlkZzn

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Ithaca Carshare revived as state insurance law goes into effect