I was a member for several years in San Francisco, and used it weekly, from getting groceries at Trader Joe's to moving props to the theatre for shows to taking weekend trips to see my family. I didn't own a car until I was 27, and never really felt the need or the desire to make car payments, pay for insurance, or find parking. But I also love to drive. I love taking road trips, blasting my music while cruising up the coast with the windows down. So Zipcar was, for me, the perfect solution.
What is Zipcar?
Zipcar is a service that allows members to borrow nice, new cars as they need them. You pay per use, around $8-10/hour or $60-80/day, which includes unlimited gas and very good insurance. The cars are all new, and range from basic economy cars (Toyota Yaris, Honda Civic) to utilitarian (trucks, SUV's) to luxury (BMW, convertible Mini). The cost depends on the fanciness of the car.
How does it work?
Zipcars are parked around the city in public lots or garages. Members sign-up and make reservations online anywhere from a month to 15 minutes in advance of a planned trip. You receive a Zipcard that unlocks the car you've reserved, and the keys remain in the vehicle at all times. You can rent a car for up to 4 days at a time. There is no annual fee to be a member, but there are different payment levels, so the people who use the cars the most get a discount.
How is this an alternative to unsustainable patterns of consumption?
Zipcar is a great example of communal ownership: Zipcar members collectively "own" their fleet of Zipcars. It also supports greener, more sustainable ways of living in the city. Many of us prefer to be pedestrians and bike riders to being slaves to the car and the highway. It's healthier, cheaper, more social, and better for the environment. But sometimes you kinda need a car, right? Zipcar is a great way to bridge the gap between car-ownership and non-car-ownership.
Here's what the folks at Zipcar have to say about promoting sustainability:
Fewer cars. Way Fewer.
Each and every Zipcar takes 15-20 personally-owned vehicles off the road. Multiply that by the more than 6,500 cars in our fleet and you've got a really big number.
Less and less driving.
After joining Zipcar, 90% of our members drove 5,500 miles or less per year. That adds up to more than 32 million gallons of crude oil left in the ground—or 219 gallons saved per Zipster.
Green gets even greener.
10% of the population is expected to adopt car sharing as their primary mode of transportation. Break it down and you have millions of people saving billions of gallons of gas and oil. Factor in the savings and you've got an economic revolution.
A penny saved, a community revived.
Zipcar members save more than $500 (vs. car ownership). What would you do with an extra $500 a month? Many Zipsters put it back into their communities by buying local and sustainable products.
How do I find out more?
Go to Zipcar.com!
