America’s obsession with car ownership has reached its climax. The old glory days, the days when a car was a pivotal piece of the American Dream, are long gone. The cost of living in the modern world leaves little room for vehicle purchases, much less insurance, registration, inspection, maintenance, gas and parking money. However, the rapidly-increasing rideshare industry is giving new generation drivers all the freedoms of the open road, without the headaches of these costly hassles.

Today’s city-dwellers have a growing selection of driving options available. Zipcar, for example, is now offered in over 100 US cities, plus Toronto, Vancouver and London. Their incredibly smart business has grown quite a bit over the years, with convenient mobile access, coveted downtown parking locations, and a large enough fleet to keep customers extremely satisfied. In San Francisco, the City CarShare program provides 330 cars at 180 Bay Area sites that can be reserved for just $5.50 per hour. Meanwhile, RelayRides has a $2 per hour rate, and is available in both San Francisco and Boston. However, the fleet is stretched rather thin and careful planning is required. Other rideshare programs are popping up around the states, such as erideshare.com, ridebuzz.org, ridester.com, and carpoolworld.com, though these services are operating with a more Wild West-type style. People post rides offered, as well as rides wanted, and the vehicle you end up with could be anything from a brand new VW to a cologne-soaked El Camino.

This evolving attitude towards car ownership is sure to support the expansion of such services in the future, and could usher in a new era of transportation culture – a new American Dream where everyone can afford to drive a car, where parking spaces are always plentiful, and where we can finally put a dent in the environmental problems caused by our aging obsession with gas-guzzling vehicles.