Salem To End Seldom-Used 'Getaround' Car Service, Repurpose Vehicles

SALEM, MA — A Salem car-share service launched in 2020 that allowed residents to rent a vehicle from a city-contracted provider is being discontinued because of low usage and high insurance costs.

Acting Mayor Robert McCarthy's office said on Wednesday that the provider contract for the "Getaround" service will be allowed to expire in April with the vehicles purchased for the service repurposed for municipal use.

McCarthy said the decision to end the service, in which Salem residents could rent vehicles from the city for hourly periods or daily fees below market rates, was "underutilized and had costly liability terms attached."

Salem Director of Traffic & Parking David Kucharsky said that since May 2021 the 10 vehicles had been booked only 45 times and had generated about $3,200 in revenue, while the city was required to obtain $50,000 in liability coverage over that time.

"As we continue to work on a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, we were able to identify a creative solution to our city's fleet management needs," McCarthy said.

The vehicles will be repurposed for the Salem Police Community Impact Unit as well as the Traffic and Parking Department, allowing the city to lower new capital costs for those departments in this year's budget, according to McCarthy.

"By repurposing these cars into our city's inventory, we will be able to save tens of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be taken out of the budget to replace our aging municipal vehicles," McCarthy said.

McCarthy's office said that while officials viewed the fleet as a worthwhile attempt at alternative transportation at the time the vehicles were purchased, the data showed that was not the case.

The city has had more success with the Salem Skipper municipal ride-sharing service in which city-owned vans perform the role of an Uber car-sharing service or on-demand public transportation.

The Salem Skipper service was earmarked for a $2.3 million expansion to serve destinations in Beverly, Danvers and Peabody as part of the American Rescue Plan Act funding designated in December.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)