University of Illinois at Chicago Partners with Zipcar to Offer Car Sharing on Campus

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) announced the launch of a new partnership with Zipcar, Inc., the world's leading car-sharing network, to offer a car-sharing program on campus. The cost-effective and convenient transportation option is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to students, faculty and staff 18 years and older.

The Zipcar program at UIC launched with eight cars to start, five of which are located on the East side of campus, with three cars located in the Medical District on the West side of campus.  UIC members age 18-20 have access to the dedicated group of five Zipcars on the East side of campus and one on the West side, while members age 21+ have access to all eight Zipcar vehicles on UIC's campus, as well as thousands of Zipcars around the world. UIC students, faculty and staff can join today at www.zipcar.com/uic.

UIC members pay a $25 annual fee, and rates on all Zipcars start as low as $8.75 per hour and $72 per day.  Gas, insurance, reserved parking spots, up to 180 miles of driving per day and roadside assistance are included in the hourly and daily Zipcar rates. Cars can be reserved for as little as an hour or for multiple days.

"The University of Illinois at Chicago is excited to welcome Zipcar to campus to help further promote a sustainable lifestyle for our students, faculty and staff, while also helping the campus reduce its carbon footprint," said Cynthia Klein Banai, associate chancellor of sustainability, University of Illinois at Chicago. "We're pleased to offer Zipcar as an alternative transportation option to the campus community, and see this as a great benefit, especially for those who don't have a personal car on campus."

Zipcars are self service and can be easily reserved and accessed 24 hours a day. Participating members with smartphones, including iPhones and Android devices, may 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 can also be made over the phone or by using the Zipcar website.

"The University of Illinois at Chicago is the largest public university in Chicagoland, and we're thrilled to offer the convenience, flexibility and cost-saving benefits of car sharing to more than 27,000 students on UIC's campus," said Jonathan Gonsky, general manager, Zipcar Chicago. "We're also excited to help support the university's sustainability goals, as Zipcars take personally-owned cars off the road, provide a viable alternative to car ownership, and reduce overall driving, making it an important component of the University's sustainable transportation network."

Studies have shown that every Zipcar removes at least 15 personally-owned vehicles from the road and that vehicle miles traveled per driver is reduced almost 50 percent when car owners switch to car sharing, helping to reduce congestion and CO2 emissions.  A recent Zipcar survey revealed that Zipcar members reported a 47 percent increase in the use of public transit after becoming members, 10 percent increase in cycling and 26 percent increase in walking.

Zipcar has established partnerships with more than 250 universities, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, and Marquette University. For more information, including how to become a member of Zipcar at UIC please visit www.zipcar.com/uic.

About Zipcar

Zipcar is the world's leading car-sharing service with more than 605,000 members and over 9,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.

Zipcar and the Zipcar logo are trademarks of Zipcar, Inc.

About the University of Illinois at Chicago

UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 27,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu.

SOURCE Zipcar

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