Cash For Clunkers Extends To The Portland Bicycle Set (With Zipcar Brownie Points)!

In recent months, the $3 billion U.S. federal scrappage program known more familiarly as "Cash for Clunkers" (aka the Car Allowance Rebate System -- CARS) received a whole lot of press.

All things considered, the swaperooni enabling U.S. residents to receive a significant discount on the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient car (when they surrendered their junkmobile) was pretty successful -- there were a total of 690,114 car dealer transactions in which a total of $2.877 billion in rebates were collectively submitted.

So, eligible Cash For Clunkers participants who were offering up their less than 25 year old vehicles and either purchasing a new car or leasing one for at least 5 years received credit in the amount of either $3,500 or $4,500, depending on the type of car purchased and "the difference in fuel economy between the purchased vehicle and the trade-in vehicle."

In my opinion, if your car looks like this, you have no business donating it to anyone ... just turn it into a flower planter and call it a day ... but I can see the environmental plus to the CARS program.

Portland's Joe Bike seems to be a bit more aggressive on the eco-front, however, by launching their own unique clunker-for-bike program.

First, they ask that interested participants donate their unwanted vehicle to the American Lung Association (whether it is running or not), and in addition to receiving a tax write-off, as long as you show your receipt to Joe Bike, they'll also give you a 10% discount on the purchase of a new custom-built bike or one already available in their inventory.

That might be a nice little somethin'-somethin,' but they apparently recognize that in certain cases, it's simply just not practical to ride a bike outside (such as during snow storms and wildly torrential downpours) so they're also adding a Zipcar code to sweeten the deal.

You remember Zipcar, right? It's basically a car sharing system (available in most major U.S. cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, and in college towns like Ann Arbor and Chapel Hill, as well as in Britain) that liberates people from the expense of traditional car ownership by offering eco-friendly vehicles to use at an hour (or day) at a time.  

So, by donating your old clunker to a good cause and participating in Joe Bike's program, you get:

1. A discount on the purchase of two wheels.
2. A tax deduction on your donated clunker.
3. A Zipcar membership for just $25 (instead of the normal $75).
4. A lifetime discounted annual membership renewal fee of $25 (instead of the normal $50).
5. $150 in driving credits.

Joe Bike is offering their program until the end of 2009, so for all you Oregonites out there, pedals to the metal indeed!