You are a typical college student and you rely on your handy bicycle to get around town. But it’s raining, you need to stock up on groceries, and the next bus doesn’t come for another 40 minutes.
Fortunately, there is now a solution to your transportation dilemma: WeCar, a new car-sharing program adopted by the University this year. The University is the first university in the state to use WeCar, an environmentally friendly system that allows members to reserve a car any time they need a ride.
Access to the hybrid vehicles is available to all students 18 and older, as well as faculty and staff.
The University adopted the car-sharing program to help alleviate the parking problems on campus. Captain Herbert Horner from the University’s Safety Services and Policing Department explained that the program should “minimize the need for an incoming freshman to bring a car and minimize the number of vehicles that come to campus.”
University student ambassador Alexis Scully said prospective students seem interested and excited about the program.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Scully said. “We try to advise freshmen not to bring cars to school, so WeCar gives them another option to get around Eugene if they are worried about being stuck on campus.”
Through a one-year contract with WeCar, provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the University has agreed to advertise the program and provide two parking spaces on campus for the WeCars. WeCar will provide one car for every 40 members, Horner said. As the program expands, the University will provide spaces for more vehicles.
The contract costs the University nothing. Those who decide to sign up for the program have a private contract with the company and pay membership fees.
To become members of the program, students and faculty must first apply online and pay a $50 annual membership fee and a $20 initiation fee. Each person receives a membership card that acts like a door key to any of the WeCar vehicles. The cars are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be reserved by the hour, day or weekend with a rental fee of $10.50 per hour. Cars can be reserved online or by phone. If the car is running low on fuel, drivers are responsible for refilling its gas tank using the WeCar gas card located inside the glove box.
The cars can be picked up outside the Living Learning Center. To enter the vehicle, drivers simply hold their membership cards over the dashboard. When the sensor identifies the driver, the car will unlock. The keys are kept in the glove box.
When the reserved time is up, drivers return the car to the LLC, swipe the card over the dashboard again, and the rental is complete.
WeCars are fuel-efficient hybrids, and by applying the shared car system, the number of cars on the road is reduced.
“WeCar complements the environmental initiative on many campuses,” Enterprise spokesperson Lisa Martini said. “You are only using a car when you need one, and by sharing cars, you’re lessening the number of vehicles on campus.”
Several other universities around the nation, including Washington State University, have tried out the system and are happy with the results.
“It has been very successful,” Martini said. She explained that other campuses have found that the shared car program helps reduce parking issues on campus and provides students and faculty who rely on public transport a convenient way to run errands and get to appointments when they are on campus during the day.
For more information on the program or to become a WeCar member, visit www.wecar.com.
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Campus car-share: what’s ours is yours
Daily Emerald
October 8, 2009
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