Zipcar continues to be a huge success in Downtown and on Campus. There are now three cars in downtown Champaign. Two are located in the Neil and Washington Street Parking Lot and a new car, called Focus Hippies, is located at the Illinois Terminal. Recently, Champaign staff had expressed concern to Zipcar that cars are reserved for long periods of time. Although Zipcar is intended for short term use with hourly rates, they do offer their vehicles to be rented for entire days at a higher rate. It was suspected that the vehicles in downtown were frequently being reserved for full day rentals for out-of-town travel. Although this is a more expensive option than renting a car from traditional car rental agencies, many local Zipcar members may not be of age to rent a car from these businesses. To address this concern Zipcar has made the Focus Hippies car at the Illinois Terminal an hourly-only model. Reminders are scheduled for City staff to use Zipcar where possible for City business considering the City fleet was reduced when car sharing was introduced to downtown. The City’s Planning Department and Parking Division continue to be the primary contact for Zipcar matters.
