University of Notre Dame Partners with Zipcar to Offer New 24/7 Transportation Option

Today the University of Notre Dame launched a new partnership with Zipcar Inc., providing the campus with access to the world's leading car-sharing service. The partnership meets the requests of the student body at ND and provides access to a convenient and cost-efficient transportation alternative.

The option is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to all students, faculty, and staff members, ages 18 and older.  Gas, 180 miles per day, insurance, reserved parking spots 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. Rates on all ND vehicles start as low as $8 per hour and $66 per day (24 hours).

The annual membership fee for anyone affiliated with ND is only $35 and applicants receive $35 worth of free driving credit applied towards their first month of driving. The annual membership fee is waived for department accounts and residence hall staff. ND students, faculty and staff can join at www.zipcar.com/notredame.  

"Students wanted a car-sharing service that helps to eliminate the need for them to bring their own cars to campus," said Erin Hafner, Programs Manager for the Office of Sustainability. "Zipcar provides not only students, but the entire Notre Dame community, with a greater freedom to run errands, attend meetings, or get away for the weekend, without the hassle of owning a car."

All four cars are conveniently located in the Old Juniper Rd Parking Lot between the B16 and D2 lots. Zipcar even offers a fun and functional iPhone app that will honk the horn to locate a Zipcar and unlock the doors for members.

"We've seen countless universities across North America and the UK benefit from our car sharing service, in addition to helping students and their parents save money by not having a car on campus, Zipcar is also helping Notre Dame to reduce its carbon footprint," said Matthew Malloy, Vice President of Global University Operations at Zipcar. "On average each vehicle in our car-sharing service takes 15 to 20 privately owned vehicles off the road."

Zipcar has established partnerships with more than 200 universities, including Indiana University, Yale, University of Virginia and Georgetown. Zipcar utilizes a network of local vendors to service and clean its fleet.   

About Zipcar

Zipcar operates in urban 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.

About the University of Notre Dame

Founded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame  provides a distinctive voice in higher education that is at once rigorously intellectual, unapologetically moral in orientation, and firmly embracing of a service ethos. The nation's preeminent Catholic university and rated among the top 25 of all U.S. institutions of higher learning, Notre Dame is organized into four undergraduate colleges Arts and Letters, Science, Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business the School of Architecture, the Law School, the Graduate School, 10 major research institutes, more than 40 centers and special programs, and the University library system.  Located adjacent to the city of South Bend, approximately 90 miles east of Chicago, it is highly residential, with 80 percent of students living on campus, and also is known for the quality of its physical plant and the beauty of its campus, including the Golden Dome of the Main Building, the world's most recognized university landmark.