Turo hopes to be up and running by the summer, a spokesman said. State regulators will complete some rules around the business in the coming months, including how the rentals will be taxed. Turo and Getaround already have some cars active in the city and elsewhere in New York, but they are required to be operated by commercial rental companies or carry a commercial insurance plan.
Vehicle owners sign up through the app or website deals are facilitated through a contactless process where cars are automatically unlocked for renters through their phones. Neither startup owns the vehicles it rents, acting instead as a marketplace. New Yorkers "have been saddled with the worst traditional car rental experience in the country," Turo CEO Andre Haddad said in a statement praising Hochul's signing of the bill. Turo and Getaround have been boosted by shortages and price increases in the traditional car rental market, which some call the " car rental apocalypse." "You take the number of folks living in the city, compounded by the number of people who need cars, and this is a really exciting market for us," said Patrick Notti, vice president of marketplace and operations at Getaround. cities (although that rate has ticked up slightly since Covid-19 arrived in 2020). The law change will open up a potentially lucrative market, especially in New York City, which has the lowest rateĀ of private car ownership among U.S.