Despite a slow start, Zipcar, the vehicle-sharing service that arrived on campus in October 2005, has more than doubled its membership at Brown from 55 in January to 126 at present.
Adam Brophy, director of business development at Zipcar, said the company is "extremely satisfied" with Brown's level of participation in the service, attributing the increase in popularity to greater awareness of the program on campus.
Zipcar's contract with the University stipulates that the company provides the cars while Brown maintains them and guarantees a certain return to Zipcar. If revenues from the service do not cover the return, then Brown pays the company out if its own funds. The University hopes Zipcar will eventually sustain itself on campus, but "rentals are still not reaching the level where Brown doesn't have to provide financial support," said Director of Real Estate and Administrative Services Abigail Rider.
Rider noted, however, that Zipcar has been performing progressively better. The car rental service was operating at a loss for most of its time on campus but broke even for the final three months of the last academic year.
While the level of student applications for membership dropped a bit over the summer, Brophy said "there have been 10 applications this month already. ... Membership is taking off."
Rider noted Zipcar's effect on parking and traffic congestion on College Hill - a key issue the rental program was supposed to address - has been less significant than administrators and coordinators hoped. "The effect that Zipcar has on alleviating traffic could be greater than it has been," she said.
The Student Activities Office, which deals with advertising Zipcar on campus, plans to increase its efforts through advertisement and membership drives this year. Brown students promoted Zipcars during Orientation this fall, and the Transportation Office sends e-mails periodically reminding students of the service.
Currently, Zipcar members, who must be at least 21 years old and affiliated with the University, can lease vehicles on an hourly or daily basis. Students can register online for a $30 yearly membership fee and receive a card that allows them to access to the two cars, named Maxcy and Meiklejohn.
In the future, Brown hopes to extend the service to the general public, Rider said.
Herald Sports Staff Writer Chris Mahr '07 said signing up for Zipcar was well worth the effort.
"I wanted to get to areas around campus, and it's always a real hassle just asking people to be a chauffeur," he said. "It was really easy (to sign up)," he said. Mahr also speculated that the Zipcar vehicles would be more popular if more people knew about the service.
