Aug 22, 2008 9:10 am US/Eastern
Zipcar Car Sharing Service Comes To UM Campus
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (CBS4) ―
Students, faculty and staff at the University of Miami now have a new way to "zip" around the campus and surrounding area. The Zipcar car sharing service is now available.
Three self-service Zipcars, a Honda CRV, a Toyota Prius and a Toyota Matrix, are now available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Students, faculty and staff can reserve Zipcars at low hourly and daily rates that include gas, maintenance, insurance and reserved parking.
The partnership continues UM's commitment to invest in sustainable solutions on campus.
The Zipcar program is widely used in larger cities like Washington, D.C., where parking is at a premium. Residents in the District without cars can often pick up a Zipcar at many of the Metro stops in Washington and use them in place of owning a vehicle.
A Zipcar is sort of like a car ATM. First, you have to sign up with the subscription-based service. An annual membership with the service will cost you $35, hourly rates are also available for between $7 and $10 per hour. You must also be at least 18-years-old.
Next, the company will issue a member a bar coded "zipcard," which will be needed to pick up the vehicle. A member then makes a reservation by phone for a vehicle, and uses the "zipcard" to unlock the reserved vehicle. The car is then yours for a set amount of time, when the car is returned; the card is charged based on time used.
With gas prices continuing their march to record levels, the Zipcar might be an alternative because the company pays for the fuel in the vehicles.
Campuses from Harvard to the University of Michigan have already adopted the program to alleviate parking problems and aid students without a car of their own.
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