Baylor Partners with Zipcar to Offer Alternative Transportation Option
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New program offers convenient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly option to owning a car
Baylor University has launched a new partnership with Zipcar Inc., providing the campus with access to the world's leading car-sharing service. The cost-effective and convenient transportation option is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to all students, faculty and staff members, ages 18 and older. Zipcar also is an environmentally friendly transportation alternative that takes 15 to 20 privately owned vehicles off the road.
Gas, 180 miles per day, insurance, reserved parking spots and roadside assistance are included in the hourly and daily Zipcar rates. Cars can be reserved for as short as an hour or for up to four days. Rates on all Baylor vehicles start as low as $8 per hour and $66 per day (24 hours).
The annual membership fee for anyone affiliated with Baylor is only $35 and applicants receive $35 worth of free driving credit that applies toward their first month of driving. The annual membership fee is waived for department accounts and resident advisors. Baylor students, faculty and staff can join at www.zipcar.com/baylor.
"Zipcar is a wonderful sustainable option that will help individuals on campus - who either don't have a vehicle or prefer to leave their cars at home - to be able to move easily around campus or in the area," said Pattie Orr, vice president for information technology and dean of university libraries.
Orr, who has spearheaded Baylor's sustainability initiative, used the Zipcar service at her previous university in the northeast. "Baylor is only the second university in Texas to provide this transportation option. I have been a member before and it is so convenient. Zipcar will be a fantastic alternative for Baylor students, faculty and staff."
"In June, Keep Texas Beautiful honored Baylor with its 2010 Civic Organization Award, which recognized the university for the significant strides it has made in the area of sustainability over the past several years," said Smith Getterman, sustainability coordinator at Baylor. "The university's athletic and campus recycling initiatives, combined with the addition of Zipcar, make Baylor more sustainable, contribute substantially to the improvement of the Baylor campus and have a positive impact on the Waco community."
Cars are self service; they can be easily reserved and accessed 24 hours a day. Baylor Zipcars will be located in convenient spaces in high demand areas. Two vehicles will be located in the visitors parking lot between Bill Daniel Student Center and Neill Morris Hall. Zipcar offers a fun and functional iPhone app that will honk the horn to locate a Zipcar and unlock the doors for members.
"We are confident that the students, faculty and staff at Baylor will benefit from having Zipcar available on campus," said Matt Malloy, vice president of global university operations at Zipcar. "It is a convenient and economical transportation option, and it supports the University's Sustainability Initiative by helping to reduce Baylor's carbon emissions."
Zipcar has established partnerships with more than 200 universities, including Duke, UNC and UCLA. Zipcar utilizes a network of local vendors to service and clean its fleet. Baylor is the second university in Texas to welcome the Zipcar program. The Baylor vehicles are fuel efficient and at least one will be flex fuel.
For more information, including how to enroll in Zipcar at Baylor University, please visit: www.zipcar.com/baylor.
About Zipcar
Zipcar operates 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.
About Baylor University
A private Christian university and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution, Baylor is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a research university with "high research activity." Baylor faculty are internationally recognized for integrating teaching, scholarship and interdisciplinary research to produce outstanding graduates.
Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest, continually operating university in the state. Baylor's 735-acre campus in Waco, Texas, is home to more than 14,000 students from all 50 states and 80 countries. Baylor offers 151 baccalaureate, 76 master, a juris doctor and 29 doctoral degree programs, through its 11 academic units.
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Zipcar and the Zipcar logo are trademarks of Zipcar, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Media contacts: Lori Fogleman, director of media communications, (254) 710-6275
Kristen Georgian, Weber Shandwick for Zipcar, (617)520-7042