In addition to the current RIDE and New Haven shuttle service, students may soon have the option to zip down to Boston for the weekend using the Prius hybrids provided by Zipcar, a car sharing company that would allow students to rent fuel-efficient cars by the hour for up to 24 hours.
Founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Mass., Zipcar is currently partnered with over 50 college campuses, including Yale, Smith and Middlebury. If Wesleyan were to partner with Zipcar, students would have access to up to six vehicles parked in strategic locations around campus.
Students must be at least 18 and have a registered driver’s license in order to register a membership with Zipcar. After registering and paying an initial $35 sign-up fee, students would make online reservations in order to rent the vehicles for $8.50 an hour, or $65 a day. A “Zipcard” or key — will then be mailed to students, who will be able to pick up the car at the reserved location. Waving the “Zipcard” over an electronic reader in the windshield will unlock the doors, and then students — or “Zipsters,” as the Zipcar website dubs its clients — are free to drive at will. When done, students return Zipcars to the designated location, lock up, and walk away.
Zipcar’s vehicles also come with prepaid gas and insurance.
Currently, student group Student Advocates for Transportation (SAFT) a subcommittee of the Wesleyan Student Assembly’s (WSA) Finances and Facilities Committee (FiFaC) is working to bring the car sharing service to campus.
“Zipcar has been known to reduce the need for cars that students are bringing to campus by about 20,” said WSA and SAFT member Saul Carlin ’09, who along with Andrea Neustein ’08, is leading efforts to establish a contract between Zipcar and the University. “It would have a huge impact on emissions and the general parking situation on campus.”
Between students and staff, on average there are about 3,500 cars parked around campus at a given time. There is a $50 registration fee for students who want to park their car around campus. Last year, Public Safety collected $46,000 for fining unregistered vehicles parked in driveways, parking lots and on the streets.
According to a Zipcar On Campus Program Overview created specifically for the University last December, it is estimated that with six Zipcars available on campus, up to 120 personally owned vehicles would not longer be in use.
“Other universities often count it as a centerpiece of sustainability efforts,” Carlin said.
Middlebury and Smith both introduced the car-sharing service to campus in order to reduce carbon emissions. According to a Nov. 26, 2006 article published by Grecourt Gate, a website for news and events at Smith College (http://www.smith.edu/news), the two Zipcars at Smith are used for several trips per day, averaging four or five hours each.
In February 2007, Wesleyan launched a shuttle service to New Haven. For a $15 reservation fee, students can take the 6 p.m. Friday shuttle to Union Station, then return to campus by catching the 2 p.m. Sunday shuttle.
“The hours are kind of absurd,” Carlin said. “So obviously people didn’t find that an appealing option.”
If Wesleyan were to partner with Zipcar, the University would have to sign a contract agreeing that Zipcar use on campus would make between $1,500 and $2,200 in monthly revenues. If this quota was not met, the University would have to pay the difference.
“It really depends if the University is willing to pick up the tab,” said Director of Transportation Marcello Curridori. “Which I doubt.”
Carlin said that he remained optimistic there is high demand for Zipcar services on campus.
“There’s a small chance that that quota would be missed by a large margin,” he said. “Obviously people would use it. Sustainability is worth a couple of hundred dollars a month.”