Hugely successful Zipcar program might grow

The Zipcar initiative launched by the City of Los Angeles in September has seen such unanticipated success — particularly around USC — that officials are considering expanding the program in the near future.

The Massachusetts-based Zipcar has partnered with more than 100 college campuses throughout the country, with 17 of which are in California. Members pay an annual fee of $35 to use the program, which allows them to rent cars from zipcar stations. Gas is included in both the daily and hourly rates, which start at $8, and the cars are available around the clock every day of the week.

Since the program was first implemented at USC three years ago, it has grown from just four cars to the second-largest Zipcar fleet in the country with 21 cars available for use, according to Associate Director of USC Transportation Jeff Shields. In September, more cars came to USC as part of a citywide pilot program.

The popularity of the Zipcar program has steadily climbed. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who was part of the effort to implement the Zipcar pilot programs in September, said its success was a pleasant surprise.

“It did not take a long period to familiarize people with the concept,” Parks said. “People instantaneously saw the benefit of it.”

Shields said the USC program currently has more than 1,000 members.

“As we continue to educate the campus community on the benefits of using Zipcar, we expect that number to increase,” he said.

USC Zipcars are being used anywhere from 50 to 60 percent of the time, Shields said. Even with the program’s popularity, Shields said members rarely have a hard time finding cars, and, with the addition of more cars to the fleet, the concern may soon be eliminated altogether.

Generally students say they use Zipcars to do errands, visit friends and explore the L.A. area. But the advantages of the program are not limited to convenient transportation. Parks said he believes the Zipcar program might eventually even alter the mind set that everyone must have their own car.

“The pilots have given the city a different concept on how [Zipcar] may be able to impact transit, the overabundance of cars in the city and the parking shortage, particularly in areas in which there are large numbers of people,” Parks said.

Students said they were excited that the program might be expanding.

“Zipcars are really convenient for running errands and going out with my friends, but, if I knew that I would be able to access a car more often, I would definitely take advantage of them more,” said Angela Beevers, a sophomore majoring in screenwriting.

So far, Beevers said she has not had a problem getting a car when she has wanted to go out, but the increase in cars could only increase her use of the Zipcar.

Some students who have not yet tried Zipcar said they would consider it, especially if the program expands.

“Over the past semester, I’ve heard a lot of good things about them, so I think that if they continue strengthening the program and increasing the number of cars, I would have to sign up,” said Martha Zimmermann, an undeclared freshman.

Zimmermann said she would like to have reliable transportation any time she needs it, without having to provide her own car.

“Coming to USC from Boston, I didn’t see the need to bring a car with me, but I do wish that I was able to drive off campus every so often,” she said. “With more Zipcars, I don’t think I would ever need to bring my car out here to the West Coast.”

Another noteworthy characteristic of the Zipcar program is its energy-efficient lineup of vehicles, including a selection of hybrids.

“It’s not just any car that is being driven,” Parks said. “They are basically all cars that are environmentally equipped.”

The next step for Zipcar at USC is to continually expand the program as the demand for cars increases.

“One of our goals is to provide as many affordable transportation options as possible to our students, faculty and staff,” Shields said. “Ultimately, we would love to host the largest Zipcar fleet in the country and [we] feel very strongly that we can reach that goal in the very near future if trends continue to stay the same.”

Lindsay Berg contributed to this report.