GETTING AROUND Pimp our ride BY SARA DONNELLY

Former Green Party state representative candidate, jazz musician, and eternal activist Elizabeth Trice has recently hatched a plan to bring communal cars to the Portland peninsula. The program, which Trice stresses is in its baby stages, would park roughly 20 cars around the city which could be driven on short trips by members for an annual fee. Similar quicky rental programs exist in cities like Boston, San Francisco, and Washington DC, as both for-profit and not-for-profit entities. Trice is taking a close look at the popular "Zipcar" program in Boston, where jetsetters and hippies alike trade sweet rides in Beamers, Minis, and, um, very reliable pick-up trucks. No word yet from Trice on what kind of cars the Portland set would be privy to (our money’s on a whole fleet of Subaru Foresters to add to the masses already clogging the city’s streets).

Trice’s informal car committee of five has met only three times since January and so other crucial details of the plan beyond the design of the rig — including the overall business structure, funding, and where to park the cars without running the risk of acquiring the boot — have not been decided. What Trice is sure of, though, is that residents of the peninsula could save a bundle on their car insurance.

"The idea is to enable people who need a car only occasionally — but when they need it they really need it — to generally live without a car," she says. Trice says the cars would most likely be used to run errands — picking up the kids, buying groceries, swinging by the mall.

Trice believes the market for a communal car is strongest on the densely populated and notoriously parking-challenged Portland peninsula. She envisions typical communal car drivers as couples that share one car and low-income residents who currently make due with bus and taxi services. Trice is particularly interested in wooing students and artists looking to avoid the cost and hassle of a full-time ride.

"Part of the thing I’ve been thinking about is how can young people, single people, and students live affordably downtown?" says Trice, who owns her own car but makes a habit of walking as much as possible. "And one of the issues is making it affordable. Most people spend two-to-three hundred dollars a month on a car [for gas, insurance, and upkeep]. If you don’t have that expense, it makes it easier to live downtown. But we haven’t set up our cities or our neighborhoods or our state yet so that you’d never need a car downtown."

The Zipcar program in Boston rents vehicles at rates starting at $8.50 per hour and $60 per day, including gas and car insurance. Members are screened for traffic violations and license suspensions and pay a membership fee to join.

Trice says most similar programs feature cars with a digital keypad that can be locked and unlocked by a central office. Members reserve a car and are given a code to access the vehicle. No word yet on whether subwoofers and hydraulics will be customary features.

To join Trice’s communal car committee, contact her at etrice2@yahoo.com