"Rent the car next door"

Aside from the cost of ownership of a vehicle, one of the biggest drawbacks of ownership is regret. By this I mean regret over not always having the exact type of vehicle you need at all times. For example, although I have a fairly economical car, there are days that I wish I had a truck like my neighbour. Or a van like my other neighbour. Or a gas miser car like yet another neighbour. Even though those days are not frequent, in the back of my mind, I know that permanently owning a vehicle and keeping it to yourself is not always very effective. And I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Enter companies like WhipCar. The idea is quite similar to that of Zipcars, where you don't 'own' any car, you just own a share in the fleet, which you can rent from on a scheduled basis at a cost much lower than full ownership. That's an idea that is growing at a fast pace, by the way. But the idea of completely ditching your vehicle and relying on an available vehicle (and completely relearning vehicle culture by only getting a car when you absolutely need one) is one that a lot of people wouldn't be willing to make. But what if you could keep your vehicle - whatever it may be, and rent it out to people who need it, when they need it (when you don't need it)? This is the new paradigm emerging into the short-term rental business.

Let's face it, our vehicles spend more time in the driveway or garage than on the road and there are likely many people who would gladly make use of it for a nominal fee. How about renting your own vehicle out to complete strangers for a price you set, but organized through an online service. This article explains the technicalities of the concept. The biggest obstacle to this new kind of car sharing idea is the mentality of thinking of a car as a personal possession rather than a tool to be shared.

By 2016, studies suggest there could be 4.4 million car sharers in North America. I could easily see myself being among those numbers.