New program on both campuses aims to reduce parking demand by offering convenient, cost effective and environmentally friendly option to owning a car

North Carolina State University and Meredith College are pleased to announce the launch of a new joint partnership with Zipcar Inc., providing both campuses with combined access to the world’s leading car sharing service. The cost-effective and convenient transportation option is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to all students, faculty, and staff members, ages 18 and older, as well as members of the local community ages 21 and older.

The partnership will officially launch with a joint kick-off press event on February 2, 2011, at 10 a.m. on NC State’s campus in the Assembly Room of D.H. Hill Library. Events to market the program to students will follow over the course of the following two days on both campuses.

Meredith College's Zipcar information sessions will be held on Thursday, February 3, from 5-8 p.m. in Belk Dining Hall, and on Friday, February 4, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the SMB Atrium.

Gas, insurance, reserved parking spots, up to 180 miles per day, and roadside assistance are included in the hourly and daily Zipcar rates. Cars can be reserved for as short as an hour or for up to four days, and members from both schools, as well as members of the local community, have access to the vehicles on both campuses. Rates on all NC State and Meredith vehicles start as low as $8 per hour and $66 per day (24 hours).

The annual membership fee for anyone affiliated with either NC State or Meredith is only $35 and applicants receive $35 worth of free driving credit that applies towards their first month of driving. Eligible resident advisors and student orientation leaders will receive waived annual membership fees and faculty and staff can apply for unlimited free business accounts. NC State students, faculty and staff can join at www.zipcar.com/ncsu, while Meredith students, faculty and staff can join at www.zipcar.com/meredith.

“Bringing Zipcar to campus is part of our overall goal to reduce the campus community’s environmental impact and increase our transportation offerings,” said Alison Carpenter, NC State transportation planner. “By offering membership incentives, we’re encouraging NC State students, faculty and staff to leave their cars at home, helping to maximize available parking space and alleviate congestion on campus.”

“Approved in July 2009, Meredith’s Greenprint indicates a plan for the College to integrate sustainability across campus, and access to alternative transportation options is one of the Greenprint goals,” said Kristi Eaves-McLennan, executive director of marketing, Meredith College. “Bringing Zipcar to campus helps us to meet this goal and provide individuals with access to cars to run errands or get away for the weekend without the hassle and expense of car ownership.”

Cars are self service; they can be easily reserved and accessed 24 hours a day. Zipcar even offers a fun and functional iPhone app that will honk the horn to locate a Zipcar and unlock the doors for members.

Four Zipcars will be located in convenient spaces at NC State near Bragaw Hall in the Carriageway Lot and near the Craft Center on Dunn Avenue. All four vehicles are SmartWay rated, and include two Toyota Scion xB hatchbacks, as well as two Toyota Prius hybrids. Meredith will offer two Zipcars on campus, including a Honda Civic and a Honda Insight hybrid. Both will be located in the Heilman/Barefoot lot. NC State and Meredith members will have access to the vehicles on both campuses.

“Zipcar comes to both NC State and Meredith at no cost to either establishment and is funded by users of the vehicles, who will receive several key benefits as members of the car-sharing service,” said Matthew Malloy, vice president of global university operations at Zipcar. “In addition to helping both schools reduce their overall carbon footprint and ease demand for parking, it will provide students, faculty and staff with a cost-effective and convenient transportation alternative that eliminates the need for them to bring their own cars to campus moving forward.”

Zipcar has established partnerships with more than 225 universities, including University of North Carolina –Chapel Hill, Duke University and Wake Forest University. Zipcar utilizes a network of local vendors to service and clean its fleet.

For more information, including how to enroll in Zipcar at NC State, please visit: www.zipcar.com/ncsu. For more information, including how to enroll in Zipcar at Meredith, please visit www.zipcar.com/meredith.

About Zipcar
Zipcar is the world's leading car-sharing service with more than 530,000 members and 8,000 vehicles located in major metropolitan areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car. More information is available at www.zipcar.com. Zipcar and the Zipcar logo are trademarks of Zipcar, Inc.

About North Carolina State University
With more than 34,000 students and nearly 8,000 faculty and staff, North Carolina State University is a comprehensive university known for its leadership in education and research, and globally recognized for its science, technology, engineering and mathematics leadership. NC State students, faculty and staff are focused. As one of the leading land-grant institutions in the nation, NC State is committed to playing an active and vital role in improving the quality of life for the citizens of North Carolina, the nation and the world.

About Meredith College
Chartered in 1891, Meredith College has grown to become one of the largest independent private women’s colleges in the U.S. Meredith offers a comprehensive liberal arts undergraduate education, as well as coeducational graduate programs in business, nutrition and education.