Why San Francisco today is like every city tomorrow

FlightCar

Flight car is a peer-to-peer car rental service currently limited to travelers at San Francisco International and Boston's Logan International airports. Instead of paying for airport parking while you travel, you can use FlightCar to rent your car to an incoming visitor. It's all arranged on the website. Prices vary, but tend to be far lower than what car rental agencies charge. The car rental comes with valet service, a free car wash and free insurance.

PostMates

Postmates is a delivery service that promises to deliver food or anything you can buy in a store within a city in less than an hour. You use their smartphone app to choose the item, then choose the courier, click a button and your credit card is billed for the delivery. Fees start at $5.99 and are determined by an algorithm that takes into account distance and other factors. The service was launched first in San Francisco, but expanded to Seattle and recently New York City.

Interestingly, it's not just startups using San Francisco as a lab to test future concepts. Huge companies do, too.

Google Shopping Express

Google launched a same-day delivery service in San Francisco called Shopping Express, and this week made it available throughout Silicon Valley and San Jose. Their mobile Android and iOS app enables you to place your order from any of 15 area retailers (which range from grocery stores to toy stores to sporting goods). The charge is $5 per store.

DriveNow

BMW is testing an electric-car sharing service in four German cities, plus San Francisco. The idea is that you can pick up an electric BMW at any of 18 locations in or near San Francisco. When you're done using the car, you leave it at any location; it doesn't have to be returned to the pick-up location. Membership costs $39. Then you pay $12 for the first half hour, then 32 cents a minute after that.

If these San Francisco tested services are any indication, the future looks convenient, flexible, efficient, environmentally friendly and cheap.

This article, Why San Francisco today is like every city tomorrow, was originally published at Computerworld.com.

Mike Elgan writes about technology and tech culture. Contact and learn more about Mike at http://Google.me/+MikeElgan. You can also see more articles by Mike Elgan on Computerworld.com.

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