ZipCar certainly is now part of the international group.
Its origins in the UK started with StreetCar (I am certain there was an intermediate company too - can't remember its name) a UK entrepreneurial start-up.
In its nascent stage it relied upon people volunteering dedicated parking in their property (driveways and the like) before UK Local Authorities embraced the concept of Car Clubs and began allocating dedicated bays on public highways and car parks.
From the outset it was a keenly priced very local service and I was an early adopter in a phase when we reduced our vehicle possession from two cars to zero. The price of a one-hour hire equated to the cost of a local taxi fare and was extremely useful for things like the large weekly shop run.
The concept of flexi-trips emerged with smart-phones, apps and emergent new technologies and is a fairly recent addition to the service.
It is regrettable that samuelsen's experience was unacceptably disruptive.
It is worth saying that the service remains popular and indeed may be viewed as an integral and essential part of an exercise that results in a significant reduction of car ownership where too many "owned" and under-used cars sit idle and parked on our highways with minimum mileage.
ZipCar do impose financial penalty on members who do not obey rules (there are not too many) and in the instance of FPNs - pass them onto the member for payment along with a service charge. Members who prove to be consistently unable to follow rules can be expelled and lose use of the service.
Search
Help
