Zipcar
Zipcar was founded in 1999 by Cambridge, Massachusetts, residents Robin Chase and Antje Danielson. On October 31, 2007 Zipcar merged with rival Flexcar.
Membership details
Members, called "zipsters", are able to view vehicle availability and reserve a self-service car via the internet or by telephone, in increments as short as one hour and pay only for time they reserve; up to 180 miles are included in each reservation (180 miles are provided in each 24 hour period).
Each vehicle has a home location: a reserved parking space located on a street, driveway, or neighborhood parking lot in the member's area.
Members are given an access card, called a "Zipcard", which will open the vehicle they have reserved only at the time they have reserved it. Each vehicle records hours of usage and mileage, which is uploaded to a central computer via a wireless data link.
The location of the vehicles is not tracked during a reservation for privacy reasons but is trackable and all cars are equipped with a "kill" function that allows the company to prevent the car from starting in the event of theft (it does not cause the car to turn off, for safety reasons) The reservation includes driver's insurance, a gas card for the car, and reimbursements for typical car maintenance items like car washes and window wiper fluid refills. When someone becomes a member, they can automatically reserve and use a Zipcar in any Zipcar city.
With service in Seattle, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Minneapolis, Portland, Oregon, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Oakland, San Francisco, University of Southern California, Stanford University, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Gainesville, FL, Toronto, London, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Vancouver, Zipcar claims to be "the world's largest car sharing and car club provider." As of May 2008, there were 200,000 Zipsters worldwide.
Individual members can sign up for one of two different plans, the "Occasional Driving Plan" and the "Extra Value Plan".
On May 1, 2007, ZipCar announced that it was ending its partnership with XM Radio and the service would be removed from its cars over the subsequent two months.
University, organization and business partnerships
Zipcar also offers its service for businesses (called "Z2B"), universities and organizations.
Additionally, the Z2B program provides discounts on Monday - Friday driving. They have also partnered with over 30 colleges and universities to provide students with access to their car sharing service on or near campus, the first being the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
History
A zipcar T-shirt.
1999: Concept solidified by Robin Chase and Antje Danielson.
2000: Company formed.
June 2000: First Zipcars hit the road around Boston, MA.
September 2001: Washington, D.C.
It should also be noted that Zipcars travelling into Canada from the US requires members to obtain a special insurance card from Zipcar. Similar to Zipcar US, travelling abroad requires a special 'vehicle on-hire' certificate which can be obtained from Zipcar.
In popular culture
Zipcar's logo was spotted on a viral marketing website called whysoserious.com promoting the Batman movie The Dark Knight, in 2007.