TTSE #2: Musician FlexVans

Things That Should Exist #2:

For the first time this summer I had some time to just go out into the beautiful Portland summer evening sun on bike, get tired, and think about stuff. As I was on the final stretch back home, I passed by the Walgreen's parking lot at Belmont & 38th and saw a FlexCar. Not an unusual sight for Portland. But this was a minivan. For some reason, it had never occurred to me that there were FlexThingsOtherThanCars.

For the past 10 minutes or so I've been thinking about a new plan - either philanthropic, through PDXPOP maybe, or economic, through Executive. There should be a FlexVan service for bands. Owning a van large enough to put all of a band's gear in is a pain in the ass, what with parking - particularly on Portland's small streets - maintenance costs and all that. Usually bands, for economic reasons, end up having to buy 30 year-old vans guaranteed to break down on the hottest day of your tour. But musicians don't really need to own vans. they just need them to get to and from gigs, and to tour.

I think you could start a specialized business of van rental ala FlexCar, allowing people to reserve a van for a given time slot. You could do a lot with even a fleet of 3 or 4. I know that I would own a smaller car if I didn't have to move gear around relatively regularly. And this would certainly make the logistics of touring a lot simpler.

Alternatively, we could start a project through an existing non-profit like PDXPOP, through which people could donate old vans for tax deductions of greater value than the resale value of the cars. These cars could be refurbished and brought up to snuff through local mechanics who could donate their labor for tax-deduction equivalences. Or we could use existing non-profit funds to pay for this as a ccommunity service. And, again, these vans could be signed out for the timeslots that any given band or set of musicians need.

I just mentioned this idea to Greg who rightly pointed out that musicians would not necessarily be the most desirable leasers (lessees?), given the sometimes true stereotypes of irresponsibility, substance issues and all that. But isn't that what insurance is for? Prohibitively expensive? Require proof of insurance for leasing? Do criminal background checks or at least driving record or credit checks? Yeah, a little invasive maybe, but probably necessary.

I'm actually very curious about this idea. Any thoughts?