Nikola Bozinovic doesn’t own a car. But a couple of times each week the College of Engineering graduate student gets behind the wheel to pick up groceries, visit friends or run errands around town.
Bozinovic is a member of Zipcar, a Cambridge-based company that rents cars by the hour, rather than by the day, like traditional car rental companies.
John Newton, a spokesman for Zipcar, said the company’s customers usually only need cars occasionally – typical members use cars about 10 to 15 hours a month.
Newton said using Zipcar saves drivers money because they don’t have to pay for insurance, maintenance, parking or even gas – all are included in Zipcar’s hourly rate.
He said the Zipcar version of the car-sharing popular in Europe has yet to sweep across the United States because Henry Ford glorified owning one’s own car and that has been the American mentality for more than 100 years.
“It’s really a behavior change that’s the main challenge of getting car-sharing to be a fact of life,” Newton said. “But we’re getting there.”
He said Zipcar now has a combined 12,000 members in the areas of greater Boston, greater New York City and greater Washington, D.C. The company also has a much smaller fleet in Chapel Hill, N.C.
A ZIPPY SYSTEM
Prospective Zipcar users register with the company by phone or on the company’s website. Drivers must have a credit or debit card and a U.S. driver’s license, and they must be at least 21 years old for insurance purposes.
Drivers can register for a free 60-day trial membership with a $75 refundable deposit, a $30 monthly plan or a $75 annual plan. (Both of the plans require a $300 refundable deposit.)
Once users register, the company checks their driving records and insurance backgrounds. As soon as approved renters have a Zipcard mailed to them, they can register to rent a car at any time of day, either online or by phone.
Newton said it takes about 30 seconds to reserve a car online.
Zipcar has cars scattered throughout the Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and Chapel Hill, N.C. areas. Generally located within five minutes from most homes or offices, cars start at $8.50 per hour or $55 per day, with an 18-cent charge for every mile beyond the first 125 free miles per day.
Bozinovic, the ENG grad student, said the Zipcard looks just like a credit card.
But instead of a magnetic strip, it has something encoded into it that unlocks the car when the card is placed on a security device located in the upper left corner of the windshield. The keys to the car are inside.
As an engineer, Bozinovic said he is impressed with Zipcar’s technology.
“It’s really smart,” he said. “It’s never happened to me that I could not unlock the car.”
Newton said the computer in the car also tracks the car’s mileage and automatically bills the driver’s credit card.
“With Zipcar, it’s all automated and all in the computer,” he said. “It’s pretty handy.”
Zipcar users can unlock many types of vehicles – including BMWs, Volkswagen Beetles, pickup trucks and gas-electric hybrid Toyota Priuses.
“No matter what your need is and how you feel that day, you can take whatever car you choose,” Newton said.
Bozinovic said he usually drives a Honda Civic parked a convenient two-minute walk from his Bay State Road apartment.
However, he has also driven other cars and is considering trying the Honda Element that Zipcar recently placed nearby.
“I don’t like how it looks, but it’s big and if you need to transport something, that’s a much better solution than renting from U-Haul or renting a car,” he said.
Most of the cars are parked in spaces the cities subsidize or give to Zipcar for free. Often, college campuses also offer parking.
“It’s in the municipality’s best interest to take cars off the street,” Newton said, adding that every shared car gets rid of between seven and 10 privately owned cars.
In Boston, many cars are located along MBTA tracks.
“We have a lot of cars along the T stops because a lot of people take the T and then get off and need the car,” Newton said.
ZOOMING BUSINESS
Newton said Zipcar has partnerships with several Boston-area colleges – including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University – that offer students, faculty and staff special discounts.
“Urban campuses have a real problem with too many cars on the campus and too few places to park,” Newton said.
However, Zipcar does not have a partnership with Boston University.
BU spokesman Colin Riley said he is not sure whether Zipcar has approached BU with a business offer, but said “students are here for an education,” not to be bombarded with advertisements.
Bozinovic said he would like to see BU partner with Zipcar.
“My suggestion is for BU to do something about it,” he said. “It would really be much better for me.”
Student discount or no, Bozinov said he worries about using the service enough to warrant the $30 monthly fee.
“Even if you spend $10 to $15, you pay $30 for it,” he said.
Christy Conrad, a spokeswoman for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which has a location across the street from West Campus, said Zipcar has not affected Enterprise’s business because the two companies are not direct competitors. Conrad said Zipcar and Enterprise are like “apples and oranges.”
“I think the biggest difference for college students is that you don’t have to have deposits or annual costs” with Enterprise, she said.
“It’s a one-time rental. You don’t have to use a deposit with us.”
Conrad said the cost of an Enterprise car in the middle of the week starts at $28 a day for an economy car such as a Chevy Metro or $33 for a compact such as a Dodge Neon.
Enterprise will also send someone to pick up renters at their homes or offices and drive them to the nearest Enterprise branch to pick up a car.
However, Enterprise rental cars must be picked up when Enterprise is open.
She also said Enterprise does not run background checks on drivers like Zipcar does.
But Enterprise renters must also be at least 21 years old, and those between 21 and 24 must pay an extra insurance fee of $24.99.
CONVENIENT COURTESIES
Zipcar expects its members to be courteous of other users. Drivers are expected to refrain from smoking in the car and cannot take pets with them unless the pet is in a carrier.
They are also expected to refill the gas tank when it falls below a quarter full — but Zipcar leaves credit cards in the cars to cover the gas expenses.
“We’re sort of on an honor system, and people are expected to keep the cars clean,” Newton said.
Zipcar workers periodically travel to the cars to clean them inside and out, perform routine maintenance and even shovel them out from snowstorms.
Bozinovic said the only problems he has encountered using Zipcar are gas tanks that are less than a quarter of a tank full and drivers who did not return the car he was waiting to pick up on time.
In the latter case, Bozinovic said he called the customer service number and was directed to another car within a few minutes walking distance.
Overall, Bozinovic said he is happy using Zipcar.
“It’s really so convenient,” he said. “You don’t have to sign any rental agreements, you don’t have to worry about insurance, you don’t have to talk to anyone.”