BMW’s car-sharing service ReachNow is expanding beyond the West Coast. After launching in Seattle in April this year, the service broadened its presence to Portland in August, and today announced the addition of an initial 250-car fleet in Brooklyn, New York. Among the fleet will be BMW 3 Series and the Mini Clubman.
ReachNow’s announcement means more competition to Daimler’s Car2Go and Avis’ Zipcar, both of which have an established presence in New York. The three services are similar in operation. Potential users register as “members,” which enables them to find and book cars through an app that indicates available cars within a certain vicinity. Upon return, users can park the car at any legal parking spaces.
An initial fleet of 250 vehicles will be available in Brooklyn
BMW says ReachNow cars can be parked at “metered spaces within a city’s designated Home Area.” In Brooklyn, that area spans north to Greenpoint and Williamsburg, south to Sunset Park, and east to include portions of Borough Park, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick.
To become a member, users are required to pay a $39 one-off registration fee. ReachNow users are typically charged a rate of 49 cents per minute when driving, and 30 cents per minute when parking.