BOSTON, Sept. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network, and Zagster, the leader in campus bike sharing, today announced their partnership to launch Zipbike, the first national, sponsored bike-share program for universities. Zipbike aims to redefine campus mobility by accelerating access to, and adoption of, bike sharing at colleges and universities across the country. The combination of Zipcar and Zipbike on campuses will reduce congestion and parking demand by providing members access to both on and off campus transportation – all without the cost or hassle of bringing a car or a bike to campus.
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Zagster, which operates 140 bike-share programs across North America — including nearly two dozen on college campuses — will manage the Zipbike systems at all participating universities. Zipcar, which is the largest and most longstanding campus car sharing provider with operations on more than 500 college and university campuses, will launch at participating Zipbike campuses if they don’t already have Zipcar programs.
“We know that today’s mobile-first, app-centric students value on-demand access over ownership,” said David Piperno, vice president of finance and strategy at Zipcar. “Zipcar programs on campuses improve the quality of life for students, faculty and staff alike by making it easy to access a car only when they need one, and our partnership with Zagster will allow us to offer that same access to bikes.”
The addition of bike sharing is a perfect fit for today’s students, who take full advantage of a variety of mobility options on campus. According to a recent Zipcar and University of California, Berkeley study of more than 10,000 university Zipcar members, nearly 60 percent take public transit once a month. And after joining Zipcar, 81 percent of university Zipcar members bike the same amount or more, and 86 percent walk the same amount or more.
Cost is the single biggest hurdle to bringing bike sharing to universities. Zipbike eliminates this barrier, offering a sponsored, complete bike-share system, bundled with Zipcar car sharing, at a fraction of the cost that universities typically pay for such programs, improving access to mobility options for students, faculty and staff on campus.
“With this partnership we’ve been able to do something that no one else has done – secure a national sponsorship for an entire category of bike sharing,” said Timothy Ericson, Zagster co-founder and chief executive officer. “The process of securing sponsorship and underwriting is a time-consuming process for universities, and can set back the launch of bike sharing programs. Because we’ve solved that problem up front, Zipbike can be deployed seamlessly and quickly. We expect Zipbike to become the leading national collegiate bike sharing brand, and ultimately become synonymous with the category.”
Available later this year to campuses that want to launch or expand shared mobility services. Zipbike is a turnkey service that includes everything involved in bike sharing — hardware, software, maintenance, rider support and local promotion. Zipbikes also feature an app-based interface and the first Bluetooth ring locking technology used in North American bike sharing to provide the most simple, streamlined rider experience available.
More information about Zipbike can be found at www.zipcar.com/zipbike.
About Zipcar
Zipcar is the world’s leading car-sharing network, driven by a mission to enable simple and responsible urban living. With its wide variety of self-service vehicles available by the hour or day, Zipcar operates in urban areas and university campuses in over 500 cities and towns across Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Zipcar offers the most comprehensive, most convenient and most flexible car-sharing options available. Zipcar is a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CAR), a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.
About Zagster
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Zagster is the largest and fastest-growing bike-share provider in the United States. Zagster works directly with more than 140 universities, cities, businesses and real estate properties across North America to make scalable bike-sharing programs available in areas where traditional bike-share providers can't reach. The company’s goal: To make the bike the most loved form of transportation. More information about Zagster and its programs can be found at www.Zagster.com.