Zipping Around Town

As many of you know, freshmen are not able to have cars on campus. Although I am no longer a freshman, I am also among the carless. However, this past weekend, I did something exciting: I drove a car! How, you ask? Did my car magically drive itself here from New Hampshire? Did one of my friends let me borrow their car? Nope. Instead, I drove one of our campus Zipcars.

Yes, recently I became a card-carrying, car-driving Zipster, and I couldn't be happier. Now I have the ability to leave this beautiful campus and venture out into the city. (As you can see in this photo, I ventured as far as Walmart, but I plan on going to more exciting places.)

Now don't get me wrong, the campus bus system is great, and provides transportation to most places you want to go. For example, the green lines go to Walmart on the weekends. But say I want to go to Dinosaur BBQ or pick up one of my friends from the train station? With 180 free miles per day and gas paid for, I could visit Niagra Falls again, if I wanted.

Normally, you'd have to be 21 to join Zipcar, but they have a special partnership with universities that allows you to join if you're at least 18 years old. You have to be a student to apply for the special discounted rate, but it's something to think about when you are enrolled! The University of Rochester has four cars at River Campus, one car at the Medical Center, and another at Eastman. The ones on campus are conveniently located by Fauver Stadium, which is just down the hill from the Sue B residence hall. The Zipcars are extremely popular; the day I went, all the cars were reserved from early morning to late at night.

So don't despair that you'll have to leave your car behind when you go to college, and consider getting a Zipcar membership. Zipcar is easy, it's convenient, and best of all, it's access to wheels on yoUR own time.