Portland's brand-new U Cars have rolled into town. Two of these sleek PT Cruisers can be found parked on Elm Street (next to the library and across from the METRO station) and another two can be found on Commercial Street, near the ferry terminal. U-Haul runs U Car Share, which is one of a growing number of car sharing programs operating throughout the country.

The concept behind these programs is simple. Rather than going to the expense of owning and operating a car that sits idle for days or weeks at a time, city dwellers can instead subscribe to a car sharing program and just pay to use it when they need it. Reserving a car is easy, and it's all done online.

Normally the sign-up fee for U Car is $50, but if you go to the U Car website, click on Portland, ME and register using the code MAINESWITCH2009, the fee will be waived.

After that the costs are straightforward. You pay $9.50 an hour, up to a maximum of $66 for the full day. You don't even have to pay for the gas. Everyone benefits from this program (whether you sign up or not) because it means fewer cars on the road and cuts the city's need for parking.

The U Cars have designated on-street parking spots that the city has made available free of charge for one year. After that, U Car will pay for the spots.