All too many Brown students will never venture into the space between campus and the metropolises of Boston and New York during their years here. The problem is not entirely our inflated workloads and habitual procrastination - despite the postage stamp compactness of Lil' Rhody, too much is outside of our walking distance. We hop on a bus to South Station. Or end up going to the mall again. Yuck.
Hence our excitement for the new Zipcar pilot program. For significantly less than what it costs to keep a car on campus, almost anyone over 21 can take out Brown's cars - the perhaps overly cutesy Maxcy and Meiklejohn - when they need them. What you use them for is up to you, but the prospect of making so much more of Rhode Island accessible to so many more students gives us great hope that we can puncture the College Hill bubble.
But the benefits go beyond expanding students' access to the world beyond Providence. Having fewer cars on campus leapfrogging parking spaces during the day and parking illegally overnight can only mean better relations with University neighbors.
And while benefits of freeing up parking spaces and giving us greater access to New England should not be understated, the possibility that Zipcars might lead to a reduction in energy consumption should be of equal excitement. While we lament the fact that - unlike some schools' cars - Maxcy and Meikeljohn are not snazzy hybrids, the cars do qualify as "very fuel efficient." Zipcar's policy of charging by the hour makes the cost of driving more transparent, encouraging Zipcar members to use the cars resourcefully. The $30 membership fee and the need to schedule ahead also means that cars aren't likely to be used for joyriding or driving the couple of blocks between off-campus homes and classes on chilly days.
Despite our enthusiasm for the program, we are unsure that it will prove adaptable to the Brown lifestyle. Some interesting innovations and creative solutions to campus life challenges, like Napster, have fallen relatively flat, and we hope that this program avoids a similar fate and possible cancellation. The University should launch an effective promotional campaign so the new program has a fighting chance. But even if the program doesn't catch on, we welcome the current mini-fleet of Zipcars, their innovative attempt to solve persistent parking problems and the new opportunities they offer Brown students to take advantage of the world beyond College Hill.
