Every gallon of gas burned emits 20 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - a greenhouse gas - into the atmosphere. Sonya Newenhouse, president of Madison Environmental Group, was troubled by this fact and wanted to learn more about the effect cars have on our environment. She discovered carsharing from a friend in Portland, Oregon and within 20 minutes decided to test the idea on the Madison market.  She hired Rebecca Grossberg to conduct the Community Car feasibility study. Six months later, and halfway through the book Divorce Your Car, Sonya launched a 6-week trial separation, then divorced her car in Spring 2001. The decision was easy after calculating that renting a car for her weekend errands was cheaper than owning her paid off Honda Accord.

With the feasibility study complete and community members knocking at her door to join and invest, she was ready to launch.

In October of 2003 with 25 charter members and 3 cars Community Car started service. Now we're 1000 members strong and have 17 cars. 

Many thanks to Amanda White who managed the organization during this time and divorced her car in the process too!