For those of you unfamiliar, Zipcar is a great service which originated in Cambridge, MA. It's basically an alternative to car ownership, car renting, and to some extent, taxis. You join as a member, then pay by the hour or the day when you need to use the car, and when you're done, you return it to its designated spot. Most of the cars are compact model hybrids and sedans, but they have some trucks in their fleet too, as well as "business class" Lexus and BMW models. Pretty cool. I'd love to have one of these in Houston, as I use my bike or public transit about 95% of the time, but I need a car for those occasional trips to pick stuff up or to out-of-the-way destinations. http://www.zipcar.com Currently the only places in Texas that have these are Baylor and Rice, which are restricted to use specifically by their students and faculty. So help bring Zipcar to Houston by signing their registry. http://www.zipcar.com/notify-me
We have three dedicated car2go spaces in our parking lot and a state contract that lets any employee use the cars for business-related reasons(with restrictions). Pretty cool.
Zipcar and CityCarShare are widely used here in SF. It's a good service as long as you don't go over the alloted time you've reserved. The overages are pretty excessive.
We've had zipcar for a while in Pittsburgh. I have friends that have used it, and they like it. As said, the overage charges are pretty high.
my NYC friends love this service. the rates are good- by the hour or by the day, and the best part is that gas and insurance are covered in the cost of the rental...
yah and everyone tries to park them in tiny spots perpendicular to the curb and they get tickets i've seen 2 or 3 cars parked like that with tickets on them
Come to think of it, I could get my girlfriend to add me to her account... she's a Rice student. Problem solved.
Hertz Connect is a similar service coming to UH. They were set up at the UC today and I talked to them about it for a little while. I was told they would have a few cars parked by Moody Towers and a few by Calhoun. They're looking into areas off campus at the moment but want to see how it works in the university. Their rates are: $50 yearly membership $8/hour for a midsize $9/hour for an SUV $64/day
