Shutting down: Parking issues plague popular Arlington rideshare company
Shutting down: Parking issues plauge popular Arlington rideshare company
Free2Move has only been in Arlington County and D.C. for a few years. It’s a popular carpooling service and the company says it has 600 vehicles in the area. However, Arlington customers got an email Wednesday that they would not have access to the service in the county by Thursday.
ARLINGTON, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Free2Move has only been in Arlington County and D.C. for a few years. It’s a popular carpooling service and the company says it has 600 vehicles in the area.
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However, Arlington customers got an email Wednesday that they would not have access to the service in the county by Thursday.
"Having this service was extremely useful for me, especially as someone who doesn’t own a car," said Darsh Suresh, who lives in Roslyn.
Suresh says there were always cars available in his neighborhood and it was convenient for him to be able to run errands or visit family.
The service enables users to rent a car and be able to park it anywhere in the so-called ‘home zone’ which, until Thursday morning, included Arlington County and the district.
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But an email sent to Arlington users by Free2Move indicated a dispute with the county about parking was the reason for the abrupt departure.
For its part, Arlington County says the company didn’t commit to paying the insurance costs necessary to maintain their permit.
In a statement given late Thursday, Free2Move didn’t directly respond to a question about the insurance costs and instead said they were committed to maintaining service in the District.
Darsh Suresh remains hopeful that some compromise can eventually be reached and said, in the meantime, he’s considering getting a car.