Car sharing service Zipcar now has two official parking spots in downtown East Lansing.
Located in Parking Lot 4 on the corner of Albert Avenue and Abbot Road, Zipcar now offer residents and students two Ford Focuses for daily use.
Zipcar University General Manager Katelyn Lopresti expressed her excitement about the new partnership between the city of East Lansing and Zipcar.
“We’re excited to bring the members of East Lansing a car sharing option that they already readily embrace,” Lopresti said.
Having Zipcar in downtown East Lansing will bring benefits to the community, Lopresti said.
“Community members recognize the benefits Zipcar brings to their community, including reduction of traffic congestion, lowering of carbon emissions,” Lopresti said. “As well as the convenient and cost-effective transportation solution it creates.”
East Lansing mayor Nathan Triplett said Parking Lot 4 was chosen because of its accessible location.
“I think it was the right combination of being easily accessible, highly visible and a place that everyone is familiar with,” Triplett said.
There are already six Zipcars scattered around campus — Lots 32, 41, 50 and 73.
Through an online subscription, Zipcar users will create a membership that will let them rent the different cars on the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
The city will later consider expanding the amount of Zipcars in downtown depending on the usage of the cars by residents.
“For now we will start with two (vehicles) and then, depending on how the community respond to it . . . we can think about expanding,” Triplett said.
Students 18 years or older can rent the cars for rates as low as $7.50 an hour, according to an announcement released by the Communications Department of East Lansing.
“There is no rate change based on age specifically, however, members who join through MSU can receive a discounted student membership,” Zipcar’s Public Relations Specialist CJ Himberg said.