Zipcar helps boost city’s low-car diet

Car-sharing service finds plenty of Portland-area drivers

By Christine McFadden

Pamplin Media Group, Sep 10, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

JAIME VALDEZ / Pamplin Media Group

Michelle Judson and her husband Evan, along with their two children Scarlett, 4, and Stone,16 months, zip around in a Subaru Impreza Zipcar. The Judsons received their Zipcar as part of the "Low-Car Diet" sponsored by Zipcar as a 30-day challenge of only using Zipcars.

Most days, you can find Percival the Prius parked at Southwest 34th Avenue and Multnomah Boulevard and Doris the Scion sitting at Southeast 27th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard.

These aren’t individuals’ cleverly named cars. They’re vehicles for everyone to share — two of the 240 Zipcars stationed around Portland.

Customers who buy a membership in Zipcar can pick up a car stationed in their neighborhood when they need a vehicle, often for short stints.

Members say it’s easier and cheaper than renting a car. Environmentalists say the service reduces auto usage and the need to buy a car, serving as supplemental transportation for those who usually rely on buses, MAX, bicycling or walking.

“We felt like it’s the next opportunity in becoming more green and more aware,” says Michelle Judson, whose family of five recently participated in Portland Zipcar’s Low-Car Diet 30-Day Challenge. Along with 29 other “dieters,” the Judsons dropped their keys into a lockbox at City Hall on July 15, in exchange for a Zipcard, pledging to replace their personal vehicles with Zipcars.

“Ultimately, the goal from this would be for us to learn how to not be so dependent on our own cars,” says Evan Judson, Michelle’s husband.

Started in Portland

Portland spawned the nation’s first car-sharing service in 1998. But CarSharing Portland was soon acquired by Flexcar, formed in Seattle in 2000. Then Flexcar merged with Zipcar, now based in Boston, in 2007. Zipcar claims to be the world’s largest car-sharing service.

The company has been growing at a torrid pace of 30 to 50 percent a year, even as gas prices barrel down, says Bill Scott, general manager in Portland.

Zipcar claims each of its cars takes the place of 15 to 20 privately owned vehicles, thus cutting down on gas usage and carbon emissions.

But a concern for environmental sustainability isn’t the only or even primary reason people use Zipcars, Scott says.

“They’re thinking of it as an easier way to live — a cheaper way to live,” he says. “It’s about a different lifestyle, one that’s not so much about owning things, and one that is simpler.”

Some businesses, nonprofits and government agencies are relying on Zipcar instead of buying their own vehicles, including Oregon Wild, a local environmental group.

“We used a traditional rental car company for most of our work needs, and after a little research by our finance staff member, we found that Zipcar would be cheaper and more convenient for lots of the trips we were taking,” says Sean Stevens, Oregon Wild communications associate.

Stevens began renting from Zipcar last fall and uses it once or twice a month to lead hikes or attend out-of-town meetings.It has saved the group money, but Stevens cites convenience as Zipcar’s best feature.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit