When Hayley Ortner moved to San Francisco to pursue a career working with tech workers with autism, she turned her car from a liability into an income generator by carsharing it through the app Getaround. She now earns enough money from sharing her car to cover her car payments and insurance, while still being able to use her car for errands and trips out of town.

When she heard about a new measure to reserve 900 parking spots throughout San Francisco for carsharing, she decided to get involved so that others in every part of the city could benefit like she and her carsharing friends have. She got informed on the proposal, and then started a petition on Peers.org using our new online petition platform, Peers Petitions.

Peers launched our online petitions last fall, when nearly 250,000 Peers Members signed a petition calling on New York state lawmakers to legalize homesharing sites like Airbnb. Since then, Peers members have lobbied their state representatives and delivered the hundreds of thousands of signatures to lawmakers. They also crowdfunded a newspaper ad telling New York homesharers' stories.

And other Peers members — from California to Virginia — have started their own petitions to support the growth and legalization of the sharing economy, as well. Through their petitions, they've been able to tap into a worldwide network of passionate Peers members who want to stand with them as they fight to legalize homemade foods in Virginia and Illinois, or change federal finance laws to encourage co-housing.                           

Sometimes the opposition to sharing our members encounter is active, and other times it's just governments and corporations being behind the times. But even the most entrenched private interests struggle to stand up to smart and passionate public organizing. After people turned out for ridesharing, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to make ridesharing legal in California, creating a new category of transportation.

"[Carsharing parking] spots would improve transportation access, reduce congestion and help make city life more affordable," Haley says in her carsharing petition. "It could also potentially set a world-changing precedent for other cities exploring how sharing can make city life richer and more sustainable."

Check out Hayley's petition and the others that have been started at Peers Petitions — and consider starting one of your own! You can create a unique sharing campaign for your area or use our template to ask your mayor to start a bikesharing program in your city.