If ideas like park-and-ride and expanded bus are truly going to take off, people need to be able to grab a car (or a bike, depending on location) for those mid-day errands and emergencies that cause many of us to want to keep our cars close by when we are at work. Car-sharing (ZipCar is one) and bike-share outlets in and near places of concentrated employment (like downtown Knoxville, the UT campus, and ORNL) could give us that kind of flexibility.

Share-cars also could be helpful for students and residents who want to try to live without a car -- or without a second or third car. Visitors to the area (particularly people attending conferences or events) would be more likely to see the rest of our region with easy short-term access to car or bike. ...Or they might be willing to do without a rental car (and the parking space it takes up) if they knew they could check out a car (or a bike) for short excursions during their visit.