AAA Takes On Zipcar With New ‘Gig’ Car-Sharing Business

Long in the business of rescuing drivers and offering repairs on the spot, AAA now wants provide cars on demand for folks who find themselves in need of some wheels.

AAA’s new one-way car-sharing service Gig launched in parts of the Bay Area in California yesterday, reports TechCrunch, in an effort to rival established companies like Zipcar and Car2Go, as well as carmakers like Toyota, BMW, and General Motors.

Gig uses a fleet of Toyota Prius C Hybrids, which are parked in designated areas in Oakland and Berkeley called the “HomeZone.”

Members use the Gig app to find a car and unlock it with either their phone or a special card, and then drive anywhere they want for as long as they want. Once the trip is over, users can park the car anywhere in the HomeZone — no special parking spots required. With Zipcar, drivers have to specify a drop-off location when reserving a car.

There are no sign-up or annual membership fees for Gig, the company says — users only pay for driving the car and tolls on the trip. Those will be calculated by Gig and added to a user’s account the next month.

Drivers are then charged by the “lowest rate,” Gig says, whether that’s by the mile, the hour, or the day. Right now, that’s either $2.50/mile, $15/hour, or $85/day.

Though the service is only available in those two areas right now, an insider told TechCrunch there are plans to expand to San Francisco.