Things worked out somewhat differently than I was expecting on my first zipcar use, but I give the experience a thumbs up. For starters, neither of the 2 Riverside T zipcars were available when I needed them monday. But the zipcar search turned up an available car at Babson College in Wellesley, 3.8 miles away - more than what I was expecting, but it turned out to be a nice bike ride there on backroads I'd never been on before (I saw a deer on the Leo Martin golf course on Intervale Rd). So that was kind of an obstacle turned pleasant surprise. It is an interesting how a minor inconvenience, if it can be recognized as a surmountable barrier rather than a deal breaker, becomes added motivation to make a plan work.
Note to zipcar: No bike racks near the zipcars at Babson College. I used your parking sign to lock up. A bike rack would be great.
The most ironic part of my zipcar day was the drive home from Central Massachusetts to Wellesley via Cambridge. My return trip involved being a cut-through commuter through Newton! And I made probably the same calculation as many a cut-through Newton commuter. I had to get from Cambridge (where I dropped off my colleague) to Wellesley. I cut through Washington St. from West Newton to Wellesley. No tolls! And not much confidence that freeways would be faster during rush hour anyway. A weird feeling being the person who I am usually looking at as a biker from the sidelines.
My take away messages from this experience: zipcar works for a suburban one car family needing an extra car from time to time. It takes a bit more effort than in a dense urban center, but not too onerous. I would love to have a zipcar parked in my village center of Auburndale, or another one at the Riverside T. In fact, I would love there to be a zipcar in each and every village of Newton. I trust (hope) zipcar tracks requests vs. car availability and member locations to site cars in new locations where they are needed, or where the demographics suggest they would be used. I can't see zipcar going wrong with a car in Newton Centre, for example. What I don't know is how Newtonites could 'vote' for a zipcar in their village centers. I put in a comment/suggestion to zipcar to find out. A question for Newton: could Newton be zipcar friendly by subsidizing the parking space(s)?
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3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope they bring ZipCars into the villages - being able to walk to a ZipCar would push me to get rid of my car for sure.
the one-car "experiment" that for began two years ago for my household has become a permanent condition. ZipCar has been a key to making this easy on everyone. Luckily, I live in Newton Corner and work near the Watertown Arsenal: a short bike commuter, plus the number of ZipCars in and around Watertown Square is great, and seemingly growing.
I wonder if enough neighbors on a block agreed to sign up, if zipcar would park a car on that block.
My wife suggested that zipcars could be located at our neighborhood schools. I will ask zipcar about this.
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