Sacramento State is in its third month using the Zipcar program on campus, and so far reviews are looking positive, said Gina Lombardo, director of University Transportation and Parking Services.

Introduced to the university in August, the Zipcar program provides a new form of public transportation for students, faculty and staff.

“The program is off to a great start,” Lombardo said. “Students, faculty, staff and community members are all finding value in the new transportation option on campus.”

Bill Connolly, a Zipcar representative, said he is also excited about the program flourishing at Sac State.

“We are very happy on how the program has been doing, we feel it is a perfect fit for any college campus,” Connolly said.

The program is being used on more than 250 universities, and it has had some great feedback from all of them.

“Zipcar gives students freedom and flexibility of transportation without the hassles of owning a car on campus,” Connolly said.

The Zipcar program was created to make transportation for students, faculty and staff on campus more convenient, by placing two cars available for rent near the residence halls.

The cars are available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week making them more accessible for students living on campus.

“The college student body is a generation that grew up buying music by the song; the same idea can be applied with Zipcar,” Connolly said. “Students are on tight budgets, and not having to worry about the costs of gas and insurance really helps them out.”

Troy Petrunoff, sophomore communication studies major, said Zipcars have been a helpful method of transportation.

“I am pretty low on cash towards the end of the month, and I have to get around town somehow,” Petrunoff said. “The

Zipcars are very easy, I can set up a reservation the night before and then the car is mine for a few hours.”

Lombardo said she believes the program has done well so far at Sac State because the two cars used – the Toyota Prius and Ford Focus – are both earth-friendly and have low carbon emissions.

“Sac State is excited to see the program grow and be able to expand on the campuses green initiative,” she said.

On Aug. 31, Zipcar partnered up with Ford to provide students with attractive, reliable cars.

“Partnering up with Ford has made it exciting for students across the country. The Ford Focus is a fun, young car that is fitting for many students,” Connolly said.

Ford has already paid $10 of every students’ yearly $35 fee who has joined, knocking down the fee to $25 per year.

Zipcar decided it would be best for the company and the environment to use cars with high fuel efficiency.

“Since we want to make Zipcar a ‘one-stop shop’ for students, we decided to pay for the gas and insurance. We thought cars with high fuel efficiency like the Toyota Prius or the Ford Focus would be a win-win for us and the students,” Connolly said.

Lombardo said expectations for the Zipcars so far have been reached at Sac State and they hope to get more Zipcars to be available around campus.

“We hope Zipcar can grow more at Sac State, we want students to know that Zipcar is another reliable form of transportation found on campus,” Connolly said. “If the demand is there, we would like to discuss with Sac State about adding more cars around campus in the future.”

Russell Preston can be reached at [email protected]