Rental cars, which are usually available in airport parking lots or busy city areas, will now be available at Cal State Long Beach.
Parking and Transportation Services has recently began offering students, faculty and staff a new way of traveling through the use of rental cars via Zipcar.
Elissa Thomas, Rideshare coordinator, said those who will benefit most are those who can’t carpool or don’t have a bicycle or car.
The university did not give details on the financial impact of the program. The University of Maine, however, ran the Zipcar program in 2007 for free — but with one exception, according to the university paper, The Maine Campus. Zipcar expected monthly earnings of $1,500 per car, which had to be paid whether or not the Zipcars made a profit.
CSULB currently has three Honda Insights and two Scion xBs available for rent at a fee of $35 for an annual membership, in addition to individual car rental fees. Cars are typically $8.75 an hour and $63 per day, or any 24-hour period.
The yearly membership includes $35 of free driving for the first month. Gas, insurance and 180 free miles are included per day. Membership also includes a card that is scanned to unlock cars that are reserved.
“Students and staff can rent a car for an hour or for the day, depending on their need — all insurance, parking and gas included,” Thomas said.
Renters have to be at least 18 with a driver’s license that has been valid for at least a year and a CSULB e-mail.
Few students have participated in the program since it is still new.
“We still have to put the signs on the cars and their parking spaces,” Thomas said.
Despite this, many students seem interested in what Zipcar has to offer.
“This will be great for people who do not have a car and have to go to their apartment to get something they forgot,” said CSULB student Zein Crusoe.
Matt Orywal, a senior business major, sees the program as a convenience for people who don’t want to wait for a bus.
“It can take an hour and a half by bus what it takes a car 10 minutes to travel,” he said.
However, Sean Slocum, a senior mechanical engineering major, said the program would not be useful to him.
“It could be helpful if you lived in the dorm and the school was looking to make money,” Slocum said.
Simon Orywal, a junior business major, said he does not know if it would work for a commuter school like Long Beach where everyone drives.
“In this area if you don’t have a car, you’re screwed,” Orywal said. David Medve, a senior in economics and psychology, does not have much confidence in the program on this campus either.
“My brother used the rent-a-car program when he went to school in San Francisco,” Medve said. “I think it’s a good idea but I don’t think it’s going to work here because of the public transportation we have.”
For more information or to reserve a car, visit zipcar.com/csulb.
David Cowen contributed to this article.