Baby, you can rent my car

A new service in Boston enables auto owners to rent their cars out by the hour — a takeoff on vehicle-sharing operations like Zipcar.

Shelby Clark was riding his bicycle to pick up a Zipcar in Boston two winters ago when it occurred to him that many people have cars they rarely use. Why not set up a service, Clark thought, that would make it possible for the owners to rent their cars out and make some money?

The result is RelayRides, a program that lets vehicle owners in Boston and nearby Cambridge rent their cars out at an hourly rate. RelayRates takes a 15 percent share of the rental fee, The New York Times reported Sept. 12 in an article by Ken Belson that is available .  

In an accompanying Times article, available , Belson reports on the growth of car-sharing services operated by Zipcar, Hertz, Enterprise, and U-Haul. Zipcar has 400,000 members, and is achieving double-digit growth rates by offering vehicles ranging from Mini Coopers to the BMW 328i, at $7 to $17 an hour, in dispersed locations, he says. Analysts estimate that 10 million drivers in the US are interested in car-sharing. Car-sharing "provides an alternative to car ownership," says consultant Dave Brook.