 ww.zipcar.com
- Zipcar is a for-profit,
membership-based carsharing
company providing automobile rental to its members, billable by
the hour or day.
Zipcar is
the world’s largest car sharing company, offering self-service,
on-demand cars by the hour or day. As the creator of the car
sharing industry in the U.S., Zipcar has made car sharing a
mainstream amenity in more than 50 cities throughout North America
and the UK, solving the significant parking, congestion and
transportation issues that plague urban residents.
In the fall of 2007, Zipcar merged with Flexcar to expand its
service offering to 26 North American states and provinces,
including major operations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago Los
Angeles, London, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, and San
Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington D.C., and Vancouver. Since
its inception in 1999, Zipcar has signed nearly 200,000 consumer
and business members/drivers to share 5,000 vehicles.
Members, called "zipsters", are able to view
vehicle availability and reserve a self-service car via the
internet or by telephone, in increments as short as one hour and
pay only for time they reserve; up to 180 miles are included in
each reservation (180 miles are provided in each 24 hour
period).Each vehicle has a home location: a reserved parking space
located on a street, driveway, or neighborhood parking lot in the
member's area.
Members are given an access card, called a "Zipcard", which will
open the vehicle they have reserved only at the time they have
reserved it. Each vehicle records hours of usage and mileage,
which is uploaded to a central computer via a wireless data link.
The location of the vehicles is not tracked during a reservation
for privacy reasons but is trackable.
The reservation includes driver's insurance, a
gas card for the car, and reimbursements for typical car
maintenance items like car washes and window wiper fluid refills.
When someone becomes a member, they can automatically reserve and
use a Zipcar in any Zipcar city.
With service in
Seattle, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis,
Portland, OR, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Oakland, San
Francisco, Pittsburgh, Toronto, London, Chicago, Ann Arbor,
MI, and Vancouver, Zipcar claims to be "the world's largest
car sharing and car club provider." As of July 2007,
there were 100,000 Zipsters worldwide.
Individual members can sign up for one of two different plans,
the "Occasional Driving Plan" and the "Extra Value Plan".
On May 1, 2007, ZipCar announced that it was ending its
partnership with XM Radio and the service would be removed
from its cars over the subsequent two months.
Zipcar also offers its service for businesses
(called Z2B), universities and
organizations. These programs typically provide a discount on the
annual membership fee. Additionally, the
Z2B program provides discounts on Monday - Friday
driving. They have also partnered with over 30 colleges and
universities to provide students with access to their car sharing
service on or near campus, the first being the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Criticism
The costs of renting a Zipcar for more than a few hours can exceed
the cost of a traditional car rental (starting around $31/day).
However Zipcar provides gas and insurance (not covered at
traditional rental) and is also open to individuals age 21 and up.
Zipcar's official pet policy, which requires a carrier, deters
many customers (others simply ignore it.) The service is often
booked up around times when drivers most want to travel, such as
summer weekends or holidays. Zipcar also restricts renting for
more than six days, making it difficult for drivers to substitute
it for their own car.
Zipcar, the Cambridge-based company that lets urban dwellers rent
cars by the hour, has sped past older car-sharing businesses to
become the world's largest. The seven-year-old company recently
fast-tracked its growth by striking deals with colleges,
corporations, apartment and office complexes, and most recently
its US rival, Flexcar.
Area served: | Zipcar Seattle | Zipcar Boston | Zipcar Chicago |
Zipcar London | Zipcar New York | Zipcar Pittsburgh
Zipcar Philadelphia | Zipcar Portland | Zipcar San Francisco |
Zipcar Toronto | Zipcar Vancouver | Zipcar Washington D.C.
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