Zipcar

ZipCars at The Silo

Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing service, has partnered with the city of Davis to bring car-sharing to the community. Zipcar members now have access to cars in Davis that can be reserved by the hour or by the day. Car sharing is a convenient, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative to owning a car. The cars are self-service, available 24 hours a day, and can be reserved online or on a cell phone. Members only pay when they use the service and Zipcar can provide significant financial savings when compared to ownership. Frost & Sullivan reports that, on average in North America, each car shared replaces 15 cars on the road.

• Zipcars live in town and on the UC Davis campus
• All cars are self-service
• Rates start at $7.50 an hour and $69 a day
• Community members need to be 21+ to join; students associated with UC Davis only need to be 18+ to join
• Gas, insurance and 180 miles/day are included in every reservation

To be eligible for membership, you must have had a driver's license for at least one year. Membership for community members is $50/year, plus a one-time $25 fee and for UC Davis students, faculty and staff it costs $35/year. Community members can join today at zipcar.com/cityofdavis. Anyone associated with UC Davis can join at zipcar.com/ucd

Cars must be reserved before they can be used (you can't just walk up and wave your ID). If you cancel a reservation on short notice, you will be charged (like the airlines do). Smoking in cars is not allowed and pets must travel in carriers. Other penalties for returning a car with less than 1/4 tank of gas, returning to wrong spot, forgetting to turn off headlights, etc. Zipcar may work out well for Davis, since so many people live car-free.

Car Locations

To see cars, visit http://www.zipcar.com/davis/find-cars. Cars are located at:

• Activities & Recreation Center - Parking Lot 25A
• E Street
• Mrak Hall Circle
• Russell Blvd
• Silo - Parking Lot 43

Helpful links from the Zipcar website:

• Find out more about Zipcar
• What is car sharing?
• Is car sharing for me?
• Zipcar in Davis

Zipcar's contract with the city of Davis sparked considerable controversy, discussed at length on the Davis Vanguard blog, and a frequent target of Bob Dunning's columns in the Davis Enterprise during the summer of 2010.

2009-09-28 19:10:20   This is a very popular service in areas of the country where people can walk, bike, or take public transit most of the time, and need a car only for occasional use. When you factor in the costs of maintenance, insurance, and vehicle purchase price, this may be a significantly cheaper solution for many students than owning their own cars. It's also environmentally positive, because it reduces production of new cars for students (including the energy usage and pollution associated with that production), and because many people share the use of a single car rather than taking up space and energy with their own. —IDoNotExist

2010-04-30 15:11:03   I've been using Zipcar and I'm really happy with their service. The initial $25 fee essentially gets returned to you — they took it off the fee i'd accrued during my first trip. One downside: I took my boyfriend's FasTrak transponder with me on a trip, but apparently it didn't register at the toll booth, so Zipcar charged me a $20 "processing fee" to get the toll ticket transferred to me. Other than that little snafu, my Zipcar membership has been very handy! —MichellePalmer

2010-09-20 10:59:28   The City apparently has contracted with zipcar for a town franchise (guarteeing a certain amount of usage to zipcar). While it seems like a great service, and more locations around town are better, I'm not a fan of the way the city has set it up. I hope it works out and doesn't cost the city money, that it can't afford. I'd rather it be spent on maintenance of bike paths and roads, or changing from greenwaste in the street to greenwaste bins. —RocksandDirt

2010-09-27 02:31:38   The annual membership fee for UCD staff is $ 35, with no deposit. I think its the same for students as well. —snehalt

2011-03-15 11:20:15   Recent use of Zipcar shows fees of $9/hr and $72/day for weekends. Just a small note to the above rate information.

On a broader note, I've found it a useful service that allows my partner and I to stick to having one car between us with Zipcar available for those rare times when we both need a car for some reason. It's far less expensive for the year than payments and maintenance on a second car would be. —TracyPinkelton

2011-07-07 18:07:32   I've been using Zipcar, and I love it! It's incredibly easy and so far I've had no problems at all, plus the price is reasonable. —KianaFreitas

2012-02-24 00:51:06   So my membership came up for renewal, and surprise!, the software overcharges me the annual fee by 15 bucks. First phone call doesnt help, second does it. I am not sure I am going to use it much.. —snehalt