Car rental service expanding in A2
Jake Holmes
Daily Staff ReporterOctober 2nd, 2007
After a slow start when its Ann Arbor operations opened last year, national car-sharing firm Zipcar has seen an increase in the number of people renting its cars.
The company, which allows customers to rent cars by the hour or the day, now plans to expand its Ann Arbor fleet, said Adam Brophy, the company's director of business development.
The company opened in Ann Arbor last fall with six cars stationed around the University - two each on North Campus, on Central Campus and near the Medical School. The company now plans to add between two to four more cars, Brophy said.
To use the service, members reserve the cars for specific time slots and use electronic keycards to access the vehicles during reserved times. At the University, users can rent Mazda 3, Ford Escape and Toyota Matrix models.
Brophy said the cars have been used about as often as the company predicted a year ago. At first, the service failed to take off in Ann Arbor. In November, cars were being used about 5 percent of the time. By winter semester, that number had risen to between 20 to 25 percent.
To lure Zipcar to Ann Arbor, the University guaranteed the company $9,000 in revenue from users each month, said David Miller, the executive director of Parking and Transportation Services. If Zipcar made less than that, the University would have to cough up the difference.
Because it took several months for Zipcar to catch on in Ann Arbor, the University ended up owing Zipcar about $30,000.
Since then, use of the car-sharing service has dramatically increased. In August, the cars were being used about 37 percent of the time. That number rose to 41 percent last month. Miller said 84 new members joined Zipcar in Ann Arbor last month, bringing the total number of customers to about 400.
"We're on the right track now," Miller said.
Brophy said Zipcar has been successful because it's not that expensive.
For University students, a yearly membership is $35. Students who become Zipcar members can rent cars for $8 per hour or $60 for an entire day. Insurance, gas and car maintenance are included. That can spell huge savings over buying a parking space - which can cost more than $1,000 for a school year - and paying for car insurance.
Until last month, only drivers over 21 could use the service, but now students with a clean driving record can rent Zipcars at age 18. Those who have gotten in accidents or received traffic violations must be 21 to use the service.
Zipcar has more than 120,000 members and 3,500 cars throughout North America. This includes partnerships with 30 universities. To pick college locations, Brophy said Zipcar looks for towns without adequate parking and with lots of downtown congestion - both characteristics of Ann Arbor.
Although about 40 percent of Zipcar users have been able to completely replace their personal car with the service, Brophy doesn't think car sharing will replace the city's public transportation anytime soon.
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