From Portland Afoot

Dave Brook discusses the business of carsharing in September 2011.

Dave Brook is a northeast Portland resident who founded Car Sharing Portland, the first commercial carsharing service in the United States and a predecessor to Flexcar and Zipcar. He now writes and works as an advocate and consultant for carsharing services, including personal carsharing.

[edit] Career

[edit] Role in inventing commercial car-sharing

According to a New York Times Magazine article on the history of car-sharing, Brook came up with the idea for car-sharing while working as an energy-conservation agent for Oregon State University. He drew down his retirement account to launch the company's first four Dodge Neons in 1998.

By 2000, the company had $200,000 in annual revenue but was losing $50,000 per year. Brook and his wife, who had according to the Times article put $100,000 of their own money into the venture, sold the operation to Flexcar. Brook received what he described as "a token stake in the company." (He was not, for example, among the shareholders of 5 percent or more named in Zipcar's 2010 IPO filing.)

[edit] Consulting career

Brook then worked in what he described as "various responsibilities with them, including setting up their San Diego operation."

In summer 2010, Brook worked as an operations consultant for peer-to-peer carsharing company Relay Rides, but had left the company by March 2011 as it retooled to deal with an investment by Google Ventures.

[edit] Political advocacy for car-sharing

In January 2011, just before the start of the 2011 legislative session, Brook launched a new blog about personal-vehicle car-sharing in Oregon and helped organize the effort behind House Bill 3149, which would "prohibit an insurance company from canceling your personal automobile insurance based on participation in a PVCS program." He said the work was unpaid.

"I'm not getting paid," Brook wrote. "I'm partially retired here, so I have a little extra time. ... In the long run, the more carsharing that happens out there, the more potential business there is for me as a consultant the rest of the time."

[edit] External links

• Brook's blog about car-sharing
• blog about peer-to-peer car-sharing in Oregon
• LinkedIn profile
• Facebook page
• New York Times Magazine article on the history of car-sharing