I-GO was a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based

car sharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pr ...

organization which is owned by

Enterprise Holdings Enterprise Holdings, Inc. (doing business as Enterprise Mobility) is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nationa ...

. It was established in 2002 by the

Center for Neighborhood Technology The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) is a non-profit organization, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, which is committed to sustainable development and urban communities. The organization was founded in 1978 by Scott Bernstein, Stanl ...

as an independent

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

organization working in the fields of urban livability and sustainability. I-GO was sold to

in May 2013 and re-branded as Enterprise CarShare.

History

* 2001: I-GO is created by the

as the first car sharing organization in the

Chicago market The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite citie ...

. * 2002: I-GO begins operations as a pilot project with six cars. * April 2005: I-GO begins its suburban expansion, placing cars in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. * August 2008: I-GO and eight other leading non-profit and independent North American car sharing organizations adopt a code of ethics to specify standards and strengthen the industry. * October 2008: I-GO membership reaches 10,000. * January 2009: I-GO establishes a joint smart card with the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...

, allowing I-GO members to access CTA buses and trains using a single card. * April 2009: Two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are added to I-GO fleet; the joint effort between I-GO and

ComEd Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the primary electric provider in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquois ...

is formally recognized by Governor Quinn. * May 2013: I-GO is sold to

in order to expand.

Stated mission

I-GO’s stated mission was to reduce car ownership rates, decrease transportation costs, reduce urban congestion, and improve air quality in

. It focuses on a convenient and economic way to commute without having to own a car and to reduce vehicle miles travelled and

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

Operations

I-GO had cars located in approximately 30 Chicago neighborhoods. I-GO members reserved a vehicle online or by calling its customer service. Members could also create and modify their reservations using smartphones. Once a reservation had been created, the member accesses the reserved car using a member card. As of June 2009, I-GO had more than 12,000 members and 185 cars available for use. The average

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...

of I-GO's fleet was 35 miles per gallon, and the fleet was composed of low-emission vehicles. Approximately 40% of the fleet were hybrid vehicles and

plug-in hybrid electric vehicles A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

I-GO added the first two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to its fleet of vehicles in April 2009 as a result of a joint effort with electricity provider

Partnerships

I-GO had strategic partnerships and alliances with government offices, local businesses, as well as other non-profits and independent car sharing organizations. Among others, I-GO worked closely with the

City of Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, 10 boat docking harbors, two botanic conservat ...

. Businesses such as

Whole Foods Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Examples of whole foods include grains such as oatmeal and rice, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish. Depending on the context this may sometimes refe ...

and

Dominick's Dominick's was a Chicago-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of Safeway Inc. Dominick's distribution center was located in Northlake, Illinois, while its management offices were located in Oak Brook, Illinois. History Founding Dominick DiM ...

provided parking spaces dedicated to I-GO cars, and I-GO also worked with universities, including

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

and

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I-Go Carsharing Defunct organizations based in Illinois Enterprise Holdings Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Organizations established in 2002 Organizations disestablished in 2013 Transport companies established in 2002 Transport companies disestablished in 2013 Plug-in hybrid vehicles Transportation in Chicago Defunct non-profit organizations based in the United States