UC Davis Brings Zipcar Car Sharing to Campus

New program aims to reduce parking demand by offering convenient, cost effective and environmentally friendly option to owning a car

DAVIS, Calif., Sept. 24 -- The University of California at Davis (UC Davis) and Zipcar, the world's largest car sharing service, today announced the launch of Zipcar's car-sharing program on campus. The service will help the college manage the increasing demand for parking and associated congestion while offering students a convenient, economical and environmentally friendly alternative to owning a car.

UC Davis will have a formal launch event at the Activities and Recreation Building (ARC) today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. each day. Students and faculty will have a chance to sign up for membership, learn more about the program and see how the technology works.

Beginning today, a mix of eight self-service hybrid and fuel efficient Zipcars will be available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The cars are located in reserved spaces in Lot 25A (near the ARC), Lot 43 (near the Silo) and Mark Hall Circle and they are available to all staff and students ages 18 and older. Gas, insurance, 180 free miles, reserved parking and roadside assistance are included in low hourly and daily rates.

Faculty, staff, and students will be able to join Zipcar for $35 and can drive for as little as $8 per hour or $66 per day weekdays and $9 per hour or $72 per day on weekends. Students also get $35 in free driving credit as part of a launch promotion. Local residents ages 21 and older can join for $75 ($25 one-time application fee and $50 annual fee). All members 21 and over will have access to Zipcar's network of more than 6,500 vehicles throughout the UK and North America.

For students, Zipcar offers the freedom of car ownership without the associated cost and hassle of owning a car. Like buying music by the song, today's students immediately see the benefit of paying for a car by the hour. They see Zipcar, which is consistently ranked alongside other leading brands like Google, Apple and Twitter, as a brand that understands them. Best of all, Zipcar provides insurance to students as young as 18.

For universities, Zipcar offers a practical and proven solution to managing demand for parking, reducing congestion and emissions and adding a lifestyle-oriented service to campus. Studies have shown the cost of a single parking spot ranges from $4,000 to $40,000 per spot, depending on whether it's an outdoor surface lot or underground garage. Since each Zipcar replaces 14 personally-owned vehicles, a university could reduce the need for up to 28 spots costing up to $1.1 million by just putting two Zipcars on campus.

Zipcar, which has been offering campus car sharing since 2002, now has programs at more than 120 colleges and universities across the country. Among the dozens of colleges that have partnered with Zipcar to reduce traffic, noise and parking demands are MIT, Columbia, Georgetown, American University, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, University of Toronto, University of North Carolina, The University of Chicago, UCLA and Amherst.

More information, including how to join, or learn more about Zipcar at UC Davis, is available at www.zipcar.com/ucd.

About Zipcar

Zipcar is the world's leading car-sharing service with 325,000 members and 6,500 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout 28 North American states and provinces as well as in London, England. As a leader in urban transportation, Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to savvy city residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car in the city. More information is available at www.Zipcar.com.

About UC Davis

UC Davis is one of the nation's top public research universities. As one of 10 campuses of the world's pre-eminent public university system, the University of California, we are located in the heart of the Central Valley, close to the state capital and San Francisco Bay Area.