Flexcars Drive onto Campus at USC

LOS ANGELES--Flexcar (www.flexcar.com) and the University of Southern California today will announce the launch of a campus car-sharing program at a special event at Tommy Trojan at 12:00 noon. A total of nine vehicles, including hybrids, utility vehicles and sporty cars are now parked both on- and off-campus and available for hourly or daily use by members. Any qualified student or employee of the university over the age of 18 is eligible to join Flexcar and use any of the vehicles.

USC becomes Flexcar’s fifth California campus, joining UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and UCLA. Nationally, Flexcar has more than 100 cars on or near more than 20 college campuses serving a total student population of more than 200,000.

Students find Flexcar’s “point-click-drive” process and pay-as-you-go model a natural fit for their lifestyle. In addition, Flexcar’s diverse fleet ensures that students can pick a vehicle to suit just about any trip. With so much to see and do off-campus, including local shopping, miles of beach, acres of mountains and wilderness and amazing cultural venues, students can enjoy the richness of Southern California without breaking the bank with expensive car payments and related costs.

"We are pleased to take this step,” said Ian Sephton, Transportation Director, “not only because it provides an exciting new transportation option for members of the USC community, but also because it underscores the university's commitment to using green technology and techniques to conserve energy and reduce emissions."

Members can reserve a Flexcar vehicle online or via touchtone phone, use their Flexcard to open the doors, take their trip, then return the car to its reserved parking spot at the end of the reservation. A simple introductory fee of $7 per hour or $49 per day includes gas, insurance, 150 free miles per day, maintenance, a reserved parking spot and 24x7 emergency service.

“Flexcar is ideally suited for today’s college students,” said Walter King, the General Manager of Flexcar’s Los Angeles region. “They are Internet-savvy, they are very conscious about the environmental challenges facing our world, and they actively seek ways to reduce their impact. Flexcar gives them the mobility they need but in an environmentally-friendly manner.”

The price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the state hit $3.252 this week, 44.1 cents higher than a year earlier and 64.2 cents higher than the $2.61 state average at the beginning of the year, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations. These high gas prices combined with the cost of parking on campus make bringing a car to campus increasingly cost-prohibitive. Faculty, staff and students can now use Flexcar for university-related trips and meetings and have the trips billed directly to their departments, or they can use it for personal errands and charge a personal account.

Car-sharing is becoming a growing trend among large colleges and universities – which are being driven by the need to reduce vehicles on and near campus. The company, which has provided car-sharing programs on college campuses since 2001, launched its groundbreaking “Flexcar for Undergrads” program last fall significantly expanding the availability of the service.

By reducing the minimum age requirement to 18, Flexcar ensures that nearly 100 percent of a campus population is eligible for the service, greatly impacting the ability to reduce cars on campus. Best of all, university partners do not need to extend their own insurance policies for the program; all drivers, even undergrads, are covered by Flexcar’s insurance policy.

In addition to USC and the other California schools, Flexcar University Partners include The Johns Hopkins University, University of Florida, University of Washington, University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, Portland State University and Emory University, among others.

More information on Flexcar and the University of Southern California program can be found on the Web at www.flexcar.com/usc.

About Flexcar

Flexcar founded the US car-sharing industry and now operates car-sharing programs for tens of thousands of members in 11 metropolitan areas, covering 40 cities in nine states plus the District of Columbia. By the hour or by the day, members can reserve and drive any of these cars whenever and wherever they need to, without filling out complicated paperwork or paying for insurance, gas or repairs. Flexcar Business Memberships enable companies to augment or replace their fleet with Flexcar vehicles. Flexcar’s University programs enable campuses to address parking and mobility issues for faculty, staff and students. Flexcar's fleet includes environmentally-friendly hybrid sedans, utility vehicles (including pickups, minivans, AWDs) and sporty cars (including Mini Coopers, Miatas and Scion tCs). Flexcar is a portfolio company of Revolution Living, an operating unit of Steve Case’s investment firm Revolution, LLC. More information on the company is available online at www.flexcar.com.

Editor's Note: Correct spelling and punctuation of name is "Flexcar" (not Flex-car FlexCar, Flexicar or Flex Car).