UM Partners with Flexcar to Reduce Campus Traffic, Parking

Flexcar to Reduce Parking Pressures, Increase Mobility for Staff, Students. Program gives faculty, staff and students access to car without driving one to campus

College Park, Md. (May 4, 2006) C.D. Mote, Jr., President of the University of Maryland and Ralph Burns, General Manager of Flexcar today announced the launch of the Flexcar program on campus. Beginning today, four vehicles will be available for use by the hour. A special program enables qualifying staff and faculty to use the cars for free for qualifying trips. It is expected that having access to a car on campus will encourage people to leave their cars at home, reducing parking pressures on campus and removing cars parked in surrounding neighborhoods.

Flexcar's innovative program provides its members with on-demand access to a fleet of low emission vehicles, including gas/electric hybrids, pickup trucks, all-wheel drive crossovers and minivans. With more than 150 cars conveniently located throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area, members are able to reserve the vehicles via the Internet or touchtone phone for hourly use. Flexcar covers the cost of the car, gas, parking, insurance and maintenance allowing members to enjoy the freedom of car ownership without the hassles and costs.

Maryland is partnering with Flexcar to help alleviate the issue of on-campus congestion and to provide an additional convenience to faculty, staff, and students. It expects the Flexcar program will help reduce the number of students, faculty and staff who drive vehicles to campus by providing easy access to a vehicle while on campus.

"If you ask people why they don't take transit to campus, they tell you they want to have a car -just in case an unexpected meeting or family need arises," said John David Allen, director of the Department of Transportation Services at the university. "With Flexcar on campus, they now have a car - just in case. We expect this will decrease the number of people driving to campus each day, reducing the number of vehicles searching for parking spots."

Under the terms of the program, usage of Flexcar is free for staff provided they meet certain eligibility and trip requirements, including:

They do not have a UMD/College Park parking permit.

The trip must occur between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on a weekday.

Each trip must not exceed three hours and total monthly usage must not exceed 12 hours.

They must use one of the vehicles parked on campus.

"Flexcar has successfully partnered with universities and colleges across the country," said Ralph Burns, the general manager of Flexcar's DC operations. "We look forward to working with the University of Maryland to increase awareness and use of this new program to maximize impact on campus parking and neighborhood congestion."

All University staff and students who join will also have access to the entire Flexcar fleet in the region at the regular rate of about $9 per hour, which includes gas, insurance, maintenance and 24-7 emergency service.

Flexcar has operations throughout seven major metro areas, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Washington, D.C. More information on Flexcar is available online at www.flexcar.com or by calling (202) 296-1FLX (1359).

06069