Depending on the success of the car-sharing initiative being introduced next year at MSU, the city of East Lansing is poised to jump aboard the Zipcar program.
The city officially has discussed the implementation of Zipcars at a city council work session and will continue to monitor its success at MSU, City Manager Ted Staton said.
“Our intention is to follow the university and to have it expand into the community after we get to watch what experience the university has with it,” he said.
Zipcar is a car-sharing program that allows members, called “Zipsters,” to rent cars on a daily or hourly basis. MSU recently announced plans to begin a program in January 2011 with six vehicles at various locations for use by students, faculty and staff.
The city’s participation likely would start at least six months after MSU’s program begins, Staton said. Zipcars could be beneficial for local residents and later could be expanded, East Lansing resident Greg Clugston said.
“It’s a good idea,” he said.
East Lansing officials were invited to participate in the university’s discussion about the program after MSU initiated a study about the program, said Tim Schmitt, East Lansing community development analyst. The idea first was brought up during the city’s green initiative discussions in 2007 and 2008, he said. Since then, the potential has evolved into the city’s likely participation in Zipcar.
“The best location would be in the downtown — it’s the highest density in terms of pedestrian and vehicle traffic,” Schmitt said.
Depending on the success of the city’s program, additional vehicles would be added until the market is saturated, he said.
Car-sharing could help relieve various parking and traffic related issues in the downtown area of East Lansing, Staton said. If residents start using mass transportation and car-sharing regularly, they might stop relying on a personal car, he said.
East Lansing presents a good market for this type of service, Councilmember Nathan Triplett said.
“One of the things we strive to do is provide an array of transportation options that meet different peoples’ needs,” he said. “There is an increasing number of people without access to a car but will need one occasionally.”
The program would not take away from other modes of transportation such as taxicabs, Schmitt said. Zipcars generally would be used during the day, and taxicabs tend to operate more at night, he said.
“It addresses a different type of market than the taxi companies,” Schmitt said.
Staff writer Lauren Gibbons contributed to this report.
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