Zipcar - Making it work

Zipcar is the easy way for students and faculty who don't normally drive to commute to-and-from campus.

Elissa Thomas, Rideshare Coordinator at CSULB, shared some insights into the brand new Zipcar program. "While there are only five cars available on the campus, the number of available cars will grow if there are more students that sign up for the service and continue to use it."

Zipcar only requires you to be at least 18 years old with a valid drivers license and a clean driving record. "It helps greatly if you don't own a car [like students in dorms], take public transportation, ride a bike, or carpool," Thomas said.

If students or faculty need a car for only a few hours, the rate is $8 per hour, or $66 for an entire day. These rates also include parking (at CSULB), gas cards, insurance, and roadside assistance.

Considering if one only needs to drive for a couple of hours or a few times a month, the savings over car insurance and fuel costs are can be enormous. Thomas told me about a student who went up to LA with a friend for a couple of hours using a Zipcar, which she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

"The Honda Insight is also a hybrid vehicle, so this program is environmentally friendly," says Thomas.

There are only two models of Zipcar vehicles available on campus, which are the Scion xB and Honda Insight, both of which can be found in Lot 3 or 14C on CSULB campus.

However, with the Zipcar membership ($35 annual fee), the member can use any Zipcar in any available Zipcar market, with Long Beach being the closest, as well as Los Angeles. With membership, one can use Zipcar in any U.S city or even overseas markets if they're a frequent traveler (see available markets at zipcar.com).

There are also several different models of vehicles available in the global Zipcar market, so if usage on CSULB continues to grow, it's possible to get new car models other than the Scion xB or Honda Insight. On zipcar.com, other vehicles include Toyota Tacoma Tony, BMW Botella, Mini Convertible Mollie, and four others.

If you want an easy way to commute to-and-from CSULB or Long Beach and even LA, the Zipcar is for you.

Photo source: Elissa Thomas

Need some wheels? Now you can get one and "zip" on by!

A new service, Zipcar, aims to provide CSULB students and faculty with an easier and cheaper way to commute to-and-from campus in today's poor economy.

At CSULB, there are about 40,000 total students and faculty that commute or live on the campus, so traffic congestion and parking shortages are a problem.

School officials announced two weeks ago a new partnership with Zipcar, which will make self-service cars available on campus for 24 hours, seven days a week.

Even CSULB President F. King Alexander says that "Zipcar will be a new key addition to our efforts to reduce congestion and parking demand on campus."

This program will provide a vehicle to the users when they need it. There are already five vehicles parked on the campus in designated areas, and users can reserve the cars for a $35 annual fee, and rates as low as $8 an hour, including both gas and insurance. Finally, students and faculty alike can both use a car at a fraction of the cost of owning a vehicle.

Zipcar has been around since 2002 and has partnered with over 120 other colleges and universities nationwide, and is available in 50+ cities spread across the US and the UK. There is more selection of cars to choose from with the nationwide Zipcar, but CSULB will be limited to only a few choices.

You can find out more about Zipcar at homepage.

via LBPost.com
Photo credit: Victoria Sanchez, CSULB