Car sharing is a great idea, so why are so many car share companies failing?

In 2016, after having recently moved to Oakland, California, I saw a black and blue Prius, its windows painted with ads for a new car-sharing service called Gig Car Share. The service allowed users to pick up cars with an app or a physical card, drive it anywhere within a designated “home zone,” and leave it at a streetside parking spot. The idea was that this type of free-flow car-sharing could complement public transit, bike-share, ride-hailing, ultimately helping reduce car...