Auburn students have been able to reserve bikes on campus for hours at a time, but now they can also rent cars for hours at a time.
Auburn Parking Services has partnered with Zipcar to provide two cars as self-service transportation rental options that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Instead of the traditional rental-car model of committing to at least a day, Zipcar can be used to run errands or other quick trips off campus.
“We’re always looking for ways to promote alternative ways to get to campus or different services to provide for students who don’t want to go through the process of calling up Enterprise or book a car or go somewhere else,” said Kelsey Prather, communications and marketing specialist for Transportation Services. “I mean, these are right on campus, so we think it’ll be a really good service for students.”
Both of the cars are located in the Quad area off of Quad Drive, and Prather said they were placed in parking spaces designated for state vehicles to specifically not take away parking spaces for students.
People interested can download the app to gain access, and students can get a discounted student price of $15 for a year membership. Faculty and staff can use the cars, too, but their membership rate is a little higher.
Users are sent a pin to unlock the car, and each car has a gas card, so users do not have to pay for gas as long as users stay within a 180-mile radius of campus. Insurance for the cars are also provided, so the user does not need to provide insurance.
“That was one of those draws with it was that it is affordable for students,” Prather said. “I rented one (from a traditional-style rental company) for three or four days, and it was over $200. So, that (Zipcar) is not bad for student pricing.”
Prather said Parking Services talked about having more than two cars, but since is the first year of the cars being on campus, they wanted to see the demand and make an adjustment accordingly. It is hoped that more cars will be brought in the future.
“Certainly, if it’s popular enough, we would love to bring more cars on campus and place them in other areas, but this is kind of the test run for the first year,” she said.
Prather said she is excited for the many ways Zipcar will be able to used by students for off-campus usage.
“We’re just excited to bring different modes of transportation to campus – tough to find parking, it’s tough for me to find parking to get to my office,” Prather said with a laugh. “So, if there’s any way we can assist students with any type of services or benefits, we are always open to making it a better experience, especially for our undergraduate and graduate student.”
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