NEWS

Green Car Service Zipping into the Bronx

New York Daily News
April 22, 2008
By Dorian Block

Another Manhattan luxury is making its way to the Bronx - and it's eco-friendly.

Zipcar, the urban car share service, is bringing 12 cars to the borough that will be stationed in four parking lots. It has plans to have at least 20 more in three additional lots by summer's end.

"We think New Yorkers everywhere need access to alternative transportation," said Joel Johnson, general manager of the company. "Traditional services like rental car companies tend to shy away from areas underserved like the Bronx. We are open to serve the entire city."

Zipcar already operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. It has 200,000 members nationwide.

Unlike rental cars, the 12 Mini Coopers and eco-friendly hybrid Toyota Priuses in the Bronx can be reserved by the hour or day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Members reserve the cars online or by phone whenever they want, and have automated access to the cars using a "Zipcard" to unlock the door and drive away.

The four lots to first have the cars are located at 1020 Grand Concourse, 3000 Third Ave., 1752 Morris Ave. and 250 E. 188th St.

As part of the Bronx launch, Zipcar is partnering with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University to bring cars to its Morris Park campus and provide discounted memberships and rates to students, faculty and staff.

However, Johnson pointed out that the Zipcars, unlike the few rental car agencies in the Bronx, will serve a range of areas, instead of only areas near universities.

To join, drivers need to be 21 years old, have a valid driver's license and no more than two moving violations or accidents in the past three years and no more than one in the past 18 months.

It costs $75 to join Zipcar. Rates for renting the car include the cost of insurance, maintenance, parking and gas. Rates start as low as $7.65 per hour and $68 per day.

In other cities, Zipcar members have gotten rid of their cars, and the hassle of owning a car in densely populated areas, by using the new option.

If the service is popular in the Bronx, it could expand to more parts of the borough, Johnson said.

"That's the whole business model," Johnson said. "As soon as the demand goes up, we put more cars in as fast as we can find the spaces to put them in."