Editorial: A place to park car-share

What is in a name? A car-share by any other name would sound … less sweet. But the fact remains that companies such as Hui Car Share — or any other vendors of cars based at a fixed station — are in the business of short-term rentals.

So the drivers circling the blocks of Waikiki and other crowded spots, searching for a parking stall, can be forgiven for wondering how businesses are able to buy a commodity that’s in short supply, and at something lower than a premium rate.

But they will: Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Monday signed Bill 19, which aims to support the development of the car-share model in Honolulu as part of the city’s resilience plan. Companies would reserve formerly public stalls at annual rates of $1,350; it’s $2,475 for downtown, and $4,380 for Waikiki.

The argument in favor is that the city reaps value by enabling more use of public transportation by giving those in crowded Honolulu districts other options. Critics at the hearing weren’t buying it; they think the city is shortchanging itself in the rates it’s charging.

Caldwell said in enacting the plan that, where possible, the city would seek places to dedicate new car-share stalls, rather than using existing metered spaces. This raises a question: Where is this virgin territory for locating the new stalls? Hui Car Share, a sibling of Servco Pacific, has stations in Kakaako: off-street, on private property. Perhaps that’s where to look — though securing those spaces adds to the city’s cost, for sure.