By Liz Field, Director of Ithaca Carshare
Ithaca Carshare, a non-profit, membership-based service that provides 24/7 access to 30 vehicles for over 1,500 members, is at risk of shutting down in May due to insurance and traffic laws and regulations in New York State.
These laws and regulations prevent Risk Retention Groups (RRGs) from writing auto insurance in NYS unless they are domiciled here. This problem is unique to New York State, as federal law explicitly allows RRGs domiciled in one state to write automobile insurance in other states.
A change in state law will allow Ithaca Carshare — as well as thousands of other non-profits in the state — to access auto insurance through a RRG.
Assemblymember Anna Kelles (D-125) and Senators Lea Webb (D-52) with Samra Brouk (D-55), have introduced a bill (A.05718 / S.05959) that will allow Risk Retention Groups — which meet minimum financial requirements — to register in New York and provide automobile insurance to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations across the state.
While there are a few carshares in New York State, Ithaca Carshare is the only one operating as a non-profit, but there are non-profit carshares in development in Buffalo, Rochester, and the Capital Region, and passing this bill will allow other non-profit carshares to start, expanding these crucial services across the state.
All of the carshares in NYS have or will receive funding from NYSERDA, and the opportunity exists to significantly expand these services as part of the State’s efforts to equitably tackle climate change by making electric vehicles accessible to all New Yorkers.
Carshares are different from car rentals, because they’re membership-based and used for local trips by people who can’t or choose not to buy their own vehicle. They’re also different from ridesharing services like Uber or Lyft, as members drive the cars themselves.
Carsharing offers many benefits besides the obvious ones of easing traffic and reducing carbon emissions. Carsharing improves public health as members tend to combine it with public transportation, as well as more active modes of transportation like biking and walking.
And non-profit carsharing programs such as ours in Ithaca, also provide much-needed access to mobility options in low-income neighborhoods.
For fifteen years, we’ve been getting insurance from one of only two private insurers willing and able to write auto insurance for carshares in the state.
The problem arose when our insurance company decided to leave the market, putting us at risk of having to close down on May 23, 2023, after fifteen years of serving more than 8,000 members.
There is a risk retention group willing to cover us, but they are not domiciled in New York State, and therefore cannot write auto insurance for us unless this bill passes.
We hope the bill language will be passed as part of the state budget, or, failing that, on its own, in time to prevent Ithaca Carshare from having to close operations in May.
If it passes, it will also pave the way for the other carshares in New York to move to a non-profit model, and pave the way for other non-profit carshares to get off the ground.
Plus, this bill will not only help carshares but all nonprofits in New York. Nonprofits that use a car to serve children, the elderly, medically fragile, or rely on volunteer drivers, also struggle to find auto insurance due to these laws and regulations.
Ithaca Carshare — and others concerned about the ability of non-profits to secure auto insurance — will be in Albany on Tuesday, March 28, to meet with legislators when Anna Kelles introduces her bill.
After a legislative briefing, we’ll be on the million dollar staircase at the capital for a press conference at 11:30am with Anna Kelles and Lea Webb.
Please write to your New York state legislators today and ask them to support bill A. 05178. Tell them you’d like to help save Ithaca Carshare, and grow this type of program across the state.
For more information, please see:
https://www.ithacacarshare.org/non-profit-carshare-insurance-faqs/
https://www.ithacacarshare.org/why-carshare/
Liz Field is the director of Ithaca Carshare, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and part of the Center for Community Transportation.