Zipcars offer campus a new transportation option

Zipcars offer campus a new transportation option

BY JENNIFER EVANS
Rice News staff

Rice students, faculty and staff have a new option available for getting out and about: use of a Toyota Prius or a Volvo S40 through Zipcar, a provider of cars-on-demand.

		Rice recently contracted with Zipcar to provide cars on campus to members of the Rice community who join the car-sharing service. PHOTOS BY JEFF FITLOW

Rice recently contracted with Zipcar to provide cars on campus to members of the Rice community who join the car-sharing service.

Faculty, staff and students 18 and older can join Zipcar for $35 per year and gain access to the two cars — parked in the Baker College-Housing and Dining Lot — for $7 per hour or $60 per day. These rates include gas, insurance and 180 free miles per reservation. New Zipcar members get a $35 driving credit.

The service was designed for the benefit of students who don’t have a car on campus and for faculty and staff who carpool, bike or use public transportation to get to work but need to use a car to go off campus during the day. Although Zipcars can be found throughout many East and West Coast cities such as Boston, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Ore., these will be the first Zipcars in Houston and in Texas.

“The Zipcar program is a cost-effective, environmentally friendly transportation solution that gives students, faculty and staff flexibility without creating a great impact on the university’s parking infrastructure,” said Eugen Radulescu, director of administrative services. “For our students, it also provides them with yet another way to be able to experience Houston’s diverse cultural, athletic and culinary offerings.”

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Richard Johnson, Rice’s director of sustainability, said, “I view the Zipcar concept as an important component in Rice’s efforts to become a climate-neutral campus. The program will reduce our transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions while providing cheap, high-quality mobility on demand.”

The Zipcar program complements Rice’s many other sustainability initiatives, including a robust program of green building, a commitment to develop a plan for reducing and eventually eliminating the university’s contribution to global climate change and construction of a child care center that has an underground tank to collect rainwater for irrigating plants and trees around the building.

To learn more about the Zipcar at Rice program, visit http://www.zipcar.com/rice.