Tribune-Review: Zipcar makes inroads in car-share market

Vehicle sharing company Zipcar Inc. sees sky-high gasoline prices as a perfect reason potential customers in Pittsburgh should give its services a try.

"Every time we see gasoline go above the $3 a gallon level, like we''re in now, we see the number of membership applications increase," Griffith said. "With high gasoline prices, people start to look at the total cost of ownership."

 

For those people who are tired of paying for a vehicle and aren''t enamored with constant bus and subway trips, Zipcar could fit the bill. Griffith believes this area will take to his company''s services, and he''s looking at stationing hundred of vehicles here.

"We''re soon going to be announcing partnerships with both Duquesne University and Pitt," Griffith, 48, said. "The areas around universities generally are very receptive to us."

The City of Pittsburgh has signed on with Zipcar at a rate of $800 for 100 hours of usage, with the program soon to be rolled out to employees.

Zipcar''s Pittsburgh fleet includes 34 vehicles that are parked in reserved spaces in Downtown, Oakland, Shadyside/East Liberty, Squirrel Hill and Bloomfield.

The occasional Zipcar driver pays a $50 annual fee and $25 one-time application fee, with vehicles costing either $9 or $11 per hour, or $66 or $77 per day. More frequent users pay no annual fee and a discounted hourly or daily rate.

As part of a promotion to introduce Zipcar to Pittsburgh, customers can use PITTSBURGHZIP as a promo code and receive a $50 driving credit.

Members don''t pay for gasoline, insurance or reserved parking in select spots, plus they receive 180 miles on the company. A user places his or her Zipcard near the vehicle windshield and the doors automatically unlock. The vehicle is returned to the same spot.

"When you look at the people who own a car, really only about half of them need a car every day," Griffith said.

The Zipcar system allows members to reserve on-line, by telephone, or through a Web-enabled mobile device.

Griffith joined Zipcar in late 2002, at a time when the company had a "couple thousand members and was doing about $2 million in business," Griffith said. "Today, we''re approaching 200,000 members and doing $100 million in business."

Venture capitalists -- including Greylock Partners, of New York, and Benchmark Capital, of Menlo Park, Calif. -- have invested more than $35 million in Zipcar since 2003, enabling it to run a deficit as it builds market share. The company expects to break even next year.

Griffith, a former Boeing Co. engineer, said he expects more competition to enter the car sharing industry, with rental car companies a natural to do so.