Zipcars cruise into Richmond

Richmond community members and Virginia Commonwealth University student, staff, and faculty members now have access to Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing company as of this Monday, August 23rd. For individuals affiliated with VCU, as a special introductory offer, the $35 annual fee will be used as a credit towards rentals in your first month. To get an additional $50 worth of driving credit, click here to sign up with a special promotional code. Under "are there other ways to join" search for VCU to get the cheaper university registration rate if you are a faculty, staff, or student. There are currently 2 cars available at the MCV campus bookstore, and 2 cars at the Monroe Park campus Cabell Library. With a $85 total driving credit and 30-day money back guarantee, why delay, try Zipcar today!

Carsharing is similar to rental cars. The main difference is that you can rent cars by the hour ($8/hour on weekdays, $9/hour on weekends) or by the day ($66/day on weekdays, $72 on weekends), and that gas, insurance, and maintenance are included. After you register, you should get your zipcard within 3-7 days. When you book a car through the Zipcar website, the Zipcar application on your iPhone, or the WHERE application on other smartphones, your zipcard will be able to unlock the car you reserved at the time of reservation through the windshield card reader. You can request extensions of your rental times (if the car is still available) through the Zipcar website, Zipcar iPhone app, WHERE app, or 1-866-4ZIPCAR. Sign up for Zipcar text alerts, and not only will Zipcar text you when your reservation is about to end, but you can also extend your reservation through texting!

You can sign up for Zipcar as young as 18 years of age if your University has a partnership with Zipcar (21 years for the general public), and parents of students can even decide to foot the bill. Zipcar is also great for traveling - as a member you'll have access to cars in cities like Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Toronto, Vancouver, and even London!