ZipCar Goes On A Low-Car Diet

With skyrocketing fuel costs and a decrease in the total miles Americans drive, ZipCar has decided to join the party of the newly energy-efficient. Gas is over four dollars a gallon and with $147 dollars for a barrel of oil (during the day today) that sweet unleaded 87, 89 or whatever octane you use will continue to climb. So to combat our addiction, ZipCar is challenging it's members to jump on the wagon for thirty days.

From Cool Hunting:

With gas prices at a record high and public transit a cost-effective and greener option, now's a good a time to ditch your car. Zipcar is trying to ease the transition with the "Low-Car Diet." Beginning 21 July 2008, they're challenging North Americans to go car-free for a full 30 days. They will replace participants' car keys with a complimentary transit pass, a free one-year Zipcar membership, drive time credit and a number of other perks from local partners. In the New York City area, Zoo York will aid the car-less participants by donating skateboards.

The events kicks of on the 21st with a ceremonial key-drop event at a currently undisclosed location. On 15 August 2008, they'll hold a completion event where people can compare their car-free experiences. Zipcar is offering the "Low-Car Diet" in ten of its American cities, plus Vancouver and Toronto. Current Zipcar members can also participate by sending an email. Get more info and apply by emailing rharmon [at] zipcar [dot] com.

Damn, that doesn't sound too bad. It doesn't make me want to sign up,I really don't drive very often unless I'm out of New York, but if I was, I'd definitely try it.

Zip-Bikes In NYC

Zip cars are widely popular in several American cities already. Without worrying about the cost of insurance and maintenance, people can pick up cars at spots around the city and drive them for a couple hours or a couple days at a time for the cost of a yearly membership in addition to the per-hour or per-day fee. But cars still pollute and they aren't very efficient for making a quick trip, especially with the traffic situation drivers face here in NYC. Well now there may be a new alternative along the same lines. Instead of picking up a zip-car, try a zip-bike.

From WCBS-TV:

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK It works in Oslo, it started this year in Barcelona and it's about to launch in Paris. But is New York ready for bike sharing?

A group that's hoping the answer is yes is providing 20 free bikes for a five-day experiment in green transportation, European style.

If the program is a hit, its backers will try to design a year-round bike-sharing system for New York.

"One of the major revelations for us is how real of a possibility this is," said David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban Design, an organization of architects and planners that came up with the bike-sharing experiment. "In major European cities they have bike-share programs that exist."

For five days you can pick up a bike from the Storefront For Art and Architecture down in SoHo. It started yesterday, so you have until Wednesday to try it out. Usage requires credit card info so it doesn't turn into a bike giveaway. Cities across Europe have a had huge successes with their programs, with thousands of bikes and hundreds of pick-up/drop-off sites.

Would this work in NYC on a large scale? I certainly think it would and so do many people that study urban planning. Count me in for bike sharing. I hope it takes off.