Car rental program jump starts

Simon Yackulic

With a Connect by Hertz car fleet already strategically placed around campus, the University of Alberta has finished rolling out a new car-rental program that co-ordinators hope will provide a cheap, sustainable, and accessible transportation option for students and staff alike.

Under the cheapest starting plan, students pay an annual fee of $50 (which is waived if students register before April 30) to be in the program, and pay $9.50 an hour to drive the car, a rate which includes the cost of gas and insurance. There are currently six cars on campus in the program — four of which are gas-electric hybrids — parked in groups of two at Lister Centre, Education Car Park and near HUB Mall.

Geoff Rode, acting director of parking services for the U of A, explained that the University sought out Connect by Hertz to implement this program as a way of complimenting other transportation systems accessible on campus. While Connect by Hertz is already present at many American universities, the U of A will be the first Canadian university to partner with the company. Connect by Hertz will provide the cars and will sustain itself from the program’s revenue while the U of A will provide the parking space and marketing. Rode notes that his aim with the program is to provide a sustainable option for students without necessarily making them sacrifice convenience — or their chequebook.

“We see this as another option that could be attractive to faculty, staff and students alike. I’ll give you an example: resident students often bring cars to campus and park them here all winter. We see this as an opportunity for somebody who needs a car occasionally — to get some groceries or take a trip to Jasper — to leave their car at home and do it that way. It’s cost effective. It’s very environmentally sound,” Rode said.

While one might question how encouraging students to drive vehicles as opposed to taking public transit is necessarily “environmentally sound,” Rode noted that Connect by Hertz is best seen as a part of a larger green transportation grid and that by providing convenience, could in fact be construed as sustainable.

Rode explained that many faculty and staff who he met with often expressed a desire to use public transit but were leery of relying on the system too much. Often they would explain that having off-campus meetings hindered their willingness to bus to campus, as they would rather use a personal vehicle to reach important appointments. Rode expressed a hope that with this new initiative, most of their concerns would be allayed and more staff and students would convert to public transit or car-pooling as their primary method of reaching campus.

“A main goal under this is to reduce single vehicle traffic to campus, to provide a number of transportation alternatives to students and staff,” Rode added. He also explained that he saw great potential for student use of the car fleet, which he expected would be expanded if undergrad interest takes off.

“For students it’s a tremendous cost-saving measure if you don’t have to keep your car here and pay for parking. Cars are expensive.”

Students interested in signing up for the program can visit www.connectbyhertz.com. While any U of A student can apply, interested applicants are required to fax Connect by Hertz a driver’s abstract, and the website indicates that students will need a clean driving record to be considered for the program.