U-Haul adds green rides to car-share program

U-Haul has made moving simpler for many Americans, and its car-sharing program is cutting rates and adding more environmentally friendly rides in an effort to win over consumers.

Called U Car Share, the program is adding the Toyota Prius, the Ford Focus, the Toyota Yaris, the Mini Cooper and the Ford Escape hybrid to its fleet. The registration fee is being slashed from $50 to $25, and members of other car-sharing organizations can have the member fee waived.

U Car Share is a limited program available in College Station, Texas; Portland, Maine, and Madison, Wis. It's expanding to Salt Lake City and college towns in Massachusetts and Virginia.

Cars start at $4.95 an hour, plus 59 cents a mile for short trips. Longer drives are typically about $8 to $12 an hour.

Car sharing is an emerging trend that allows drivers who don't own, but occasionally need the use of automobiles to get reliable rides cheaply without long-term commitments.

By Greg Migliore