ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Flower City Car Share, of Floshare for short, now has four 100% electronic vehicles available to be rented: Two stationed at the Rochester Public Market and two more at St. Mary’s Hospital.

The program is still in the beta test phase, but people wanting to use the service, can access their webssite to use the app, which unlocks the cars.

Prices start at $5 per hour, or $40 per day, and drivers licenses from all 50 states are accepted.

According to Floshare, the car-sharing process is simple:

  • Reserve: Reserve Floshare in advance on the mobile app or website
  • Pick Up: To pick up Floshare and hit the road, open the Floshare app and unlock the vehicle
  • Drive: Unplug the vehicle from the charging station and begin your trip! You can lock and unlock the vehicle with your smartphone or smartcard throughout your trip. Enjoy the drive!
  • Drop: Return the car to the station where you began your journey. Use the EV Connect card to swipe at the charging station and then plug the car into the charger and end your trip with the app!

Program Coordinator Bree-Ana Dukes has a background in education, but life steered her in another direction.

“I was looking for a company that had a good mission, and I always worked in spaces with its access to education, housing, or healthcare, and so this fit the bill,” she said. “It’s access to transportation, and it’s all interconnected, so you can go to the grocery store, to the doctor’s, something like that.”

Floshare is one part of a nationwide network built by Mobility Development that brings carsharing to places like Boston, Chicago, and the Central Valley of California. Here in Rochester, there are currently four electric vehicles.

“Electric vehicles mean you’re not emitting as many carbon emissions in the universe, in the atmosphere,” she said.

They have two at the public market in Rochester, and two at Saint Mary’s at Rochester Regional Health. Dukes says transportation equity is still an issue in Rochester, and their low rates will help ease that inequity.

This is a good first step, but Dukes says there is still work to do.

“The fact you need a vehicle to get anywhere in Rochester,” she said. “The commute is about 20 minutes to any space… and the bus system is getting better, but we have a lot of work to do, and we just need more modes of mobility.”