Zipcar, Purdue begin car-sharing program on campus
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University will launch a partnership Wednesday (Sept. 28) with Zipcar Inc., the world's leading car-sharing network, to offer a Zipcar car-sharing program on campus.
As part of Purdue's Green Week, six Zipcars - three Ford Focuses, two Honda Insights and one Nissan Sentra - will be on display around campus, including the Purdue Memorial Mall, Centennial Mall and Stadium Mall. There also will be an opportunity to sign up for the program. This year, Purdue University faculty, staff and students can join Zipcar for $25, and hourly rates to reserve Zipcars start at $7 per hour. Gas, insurance, maintenance and roadside assistance are included.
Zipcars will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to students, faculty and staff members ages 18 and older who sign up for the program. Cars can be reserved for as little as an hour or for multiple days.
Community members 21 and over who have had a driver's license for at least one year also can apply to the program. For community members, the fee is $50 a year with a one-time application fee of $25.
"Purdue has partnered with Zipcar to offer a convenient transportation option, which further promotes the campus' sustainability efforts. We see this as a benefit to the campus community, particularly for those who do not have a personal vehicle on campus," said Cheryl Purefoy, director of Printing, Parking, Airport and Transportation at Purdue.
Zipcars are self-service and can be reserved and accessed 24 hours a day. Participating members with smartphones, including iPhones and Android devices, can download the Zipcar mobile applications to make reservations, lock and unlock the vehicles as well as honk the horn to help locate the vehicle. Reservations also can be made over the phone or by using the Zipcar website.
"In addition to giving Purdue students, faculty and staff increased travel options, Zipcar also is intended to help the university to reduce its carbon footprint," said Mark Norman, president and COO of Zipcar. "Zipcar is an environmentally friendly transportation option, and national studies have shown that each car shared removes approximately 15 personally owned vehicles from the road, helping reduce harmful CO2 emissions."
Zipcar has partnerships with more than 250 universities, including Northwestern University, Michigan State University, the University of Chicago and Butler University.
The Purdue community can join Zipcar by going online to https://www.zipcar.com/purdue
Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu
Sources: Cheryl Purefoy, director of Printing, Parking, Airport and Transportation, 765-494-0223, ccpurefoy@purdue.edu
Colleen McCormick, Zipcar public relations specialist 617-442-4342, cmccormick@zipcar.com