BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A car-sharing service is expanding its electric vehicle fleet in Buffalo.
Buffalo Carshare currently operates two electric vehicles in Buffalo through an app-based service, with one located at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and another at the Hertel Avenue Co-op.
Project Manager Micaela Shapiro-Shellaby said people can book a car for $7 an hour once signed up.
"People use the vehicles for medical appointments, grocery shopping, to go and hang out with their friends, go to the beach," Shapiro-Shellaby said.
Buffalo Carshare co-founder Creighton Randall told me more cars are imminent; a new vehicle will be available at The Rails apartments on Hertel Avenue and Main Street within the next few weeks.
"I would see us up in the range of four, five, maybe six cars by the end of this year," Randall added.
WATCH: Car-sharing service plans Buffalo expansion
Randall said car-sharing fills a critical gap in the city.
"You've got almost a third of households in the City of Buffalo that don't own cars, so car-sharing is a complement to public transit," Randall said.
Randall started Buffalo Car Share in 2009 while a UB student, and it quickly took off, with up to 900 active users, according to Randall. The service was forced to stop in 2015 due to New York's car-sharing insurance laws, but returned in 2025. A law change in 2023allowed nonprofits to pool car-sharing insurance, and was championed by then-state Senator Sean Ryan (D), who now leads Buffalo as mayor.
In that decade, Randall started parent company Mobility Development Operations and expanded the service to 10 states.
Future expansion locations under consideration include Allentown, the West Side and Cold Springs neighborhood.
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