Zipcar expands car sharing service in Pittsburgh

Zipcar has expanded its car sharing service in Pittsburgh, by making vehicles available for rent on the city’s South Side. According to preliminary plans, at least four of Zipcar’s rental cars will be parked in neighbourhoods on the South Side, with the remaining 32 vehicles in Pittsburgh’s downtown core, as well as in Oakland. Car sharing was first introduced to this city in May 2007, when Flexcar brought in a total of 20 vehicles. Since then, Flexcar has merged with Zipcar and the newly fused car sharing company decided to increase the number of cars parked in Pittsburgh from the initial 20 to 36.

The four cars which will become available on the city’s South Side will be parked at the corner of Sidney and 24^th streets, as well as right in front of the City Theatre. If everything goes according to plan, these cars should be available for hire by June 26^th, 2008. More than 1,200 Pittsburgh residents are already signed up with Zipcar and these so-called “Zipsters” are the ones who may choose to rent one of these parked vehicles on an hourly basis, whenever they need to run errands or attend special events. Renting a vehicle with Zipcar is a convenient, straightforward process. Clients can simply book their vehicle over the internet and pick one up from any of the parked locations, using a special cardkey to open the doors.

Zipcar already counts an impressive 200,000 members nationwide and owns a total of 5,000 passenger vehicles parked in some 50 cities. In most cases, an hourly rental ranges from $7 to $9, and this fee includes petrol and insurance.

www.zipcar.co.uk