We love Tony Hsieh at Social News Daily because his Downtown Project it transform downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world, is so damn cool. Tech people tend to be idealistic, and when they have the money to fund a vision amazing things start happening.
Today the Downtown Project announced a car sharing service called Project 100. For $400 a month subscribers will gain access to 100+ shared Tesla Model S cars, 100+ shared bikes, and 1oo+ shared shuttle bus stops.
“We are excited to be partnering with Downtown Project and Project 100,” said Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla Motors. “I am a big fan of their innovative efforts to help revitalize and transform downtown Vegas.”
Subscribers will have an app that will let the service know where you are when you need to get somewhere. Based on where you are, the app will let you know what your transportation options are and how quick you can access them.
The services available are determined by zones: Downtown (one mile around a central point), Residential (about two miles around Downtown, the City (anywhere in the city), and the Outer Zone (places outside the city).
Based on location, the app could give you the option of being picked up by a driver in a Tesla in 3 minutes, driving yourself in a short-range electric vehicle that is 0.2 miles away, pick up a bike 0.1 miles away, or jump on a party bus that will be near you in 4 minutes.
Hsieh and his team chose Tesla Model S as the primary vehicle type because it’s beautiful, fun to drive, and it’s “a big computer on wheels” that gives the project a lot of information about how people travel around town.
In addition to building this new comprehensive transportation system for Downtown Las Vegas, the project involves building an infrastructure to support it. That includes charging stations, and a fleet management software system that is designed to keep the complexity of the system completely invisible to subscribers.
During the invite-only beta, the project team will experiment with other types of electric vehicles for shorter trips, and utilitarian vehicles for furniture shopping and out of city hiking trips. It may turn out the members need more of one type of transportation and less of others.
As Project 100 rolls out there will also be lower rate, lest robust memberships available too.
Hsieh’s team is ramping up fast because they want to completely replace the need for members to own a vehicle, and services need to be robust to do that. Project 100 is more than only a vehicle sharing service, it’s a comprehensive transportation system designed for the future-focused community the Downtown Project is working to build.
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