The streetcar can take hours to come, not everyone can afford a residential parking permit and sometimes, friends just don’t want to waste gas. What’s the solution? Car sharing.

Loyola, in conjunction with Tulane University, is in the process of finalizing a contract that will implement a car-sharing program to alleviate the lack of available parking spots on campus.

According to Robert Reed, assistant vice president of student affairs, the car sharing program will offer an alternative to residents bringing a car to campus. It can also be beneficial if a student, staff or faculty member is in need of a car due to a malfunction in his or her vehicle, to run errands or to go out for a night. Also, since most students are under 25 years old, they are unable to rent a car without paying an additional fee,  if at all, Reed said.

The University Parking Committee has been working on implementing the program for a number of weeks. Reed addressed the plan at the SGA town hall meeting on Nov. 17.
The committee has considered Zipcar, WeCar by Enterprise and Connect by Hertz, national car sharing companies, as vendors for the program.

“Robert Reed has since looked into other brands of car sharing. The final recommendation company is being looked at by (the) school’s legal department,” said Jessica Burg, University Parking Committee member and accounting senior, in an e-mail to The Maroon.
Zipcar and Connect offer the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape and WeCar primarily has hybrid cars, according to their Web sites.

“It will be green in a sense that the cars will be hybrid,” Reed said. “I think that will help us toward the university’s commitment to being as green as possible.”

The program plans to start with three of the Toyota Priuses, which will be located on the fourth floor of the Freret Street parking garage. In order to reserve one of these vehicles, students must have a membership to the program. To have a membership, qualifications include being a licensed driver and at least 18 years old.

“I really like the idea but I don’t know how often it would be used,” said Michael Bennett, piano performance freshman.

Once a student is a member, he or she can reserve a car online or by phone for $8.50 per hour or $10.50 per hour over night, according to Reed. Yet, some students may find these fees pricey.

“College students, especially freshmen, may not have enough money to pay $8.50 an hour,” said Marlin Williford, biology freshman.

However, the Zipcar Web site assures its services can save money when compared to buying a car.

“It sounds like a really good idea if you have business to take care of,” said Arien Hall, music education freshman.

Just like the Broadway campus, grocery and entertainment shuttles, the program will function as a part of Loyola’s transportation system.

“It’s a step in the right direction for those who don’t have a car to get around,” Williford said.

Though users will have a car to get around, there will be additional fees for losing the car keys, losing the gas card, losing the car, leaving the car messy, failing to lock the car upon return, smoking in the car and getting into an accident, Reed said.

“It’s an interesting concept and I think it will catch on more,” Reed said.

The addition of bicycle racks and parking spaces for motorcycles and mopeds are other options being offered to better on-campus parking. 

SGA is also in the process of meeting with the Regional Transit Authority, the New Orleans public transit system, to work on getting students discounts for the streetcar.

Precious Esie can be reached [email protected]