PASADENA, Calif., May 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Pasadena Department of Transportation (DOT) and Zipcar, the world's leading car sharing network, are partnering to introduce 20 Zipcars in 10 new locations to provide members, including Pasadena residents, students, businesses and visitors, increased access to an affordable transportation option that is convenient, and helps to reduce congestion, emissions and parking demand.
Two Zipcars will be available in reserved parking spots at or near each of the 10 locations, including the South Lake Avenue Business District, Playhouse District, Old Pasadena and select Metro Gold Line stations:
- City Hall at Holly Street and Garfield Avenue
- Del Mar Gold Line Station at Arroyo Parkway and Cordova Street
- Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line Station at Foothill Boulevard and Halstead Street
- Green Street and De Lacey Avenue
- Pasadena City College at North Bonnie Avenue and Colorado Boulevard
- Fair Oaks Ave and Green Street
- Westin Hotel at Los Robles Avenue and Walnut Street
- Target at Oak Knoll Avenue and Colorado Boulevard
- Mentor Avenue and Green Street
- Del Mar Avenue and Lake Avenue
"Zipcar is a convenient, low-cost sustainable transportation option that has grown considerably in North America during the past 10-plus years," said Fred Dock, director of transportation for the City of Pasadena. "The partnership reflects the City's commitment to improving local transportation options as well as making Pasadena more accessible to visitors."
The new Zipcars come in addition to two existing Pasadena locations, which include four vehicles at Caltech and two at the Westgate apartments. A variety of more than 230 Zipcar vehicles are located in more than 80 locations in the greater Los Angeles area, including hybrids, utility vehicles, minivans and small sedans such as the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Nissan Sentra.
"With studies showing that about one quarter of trips taken by California households are taken via alternative transportation options, we're experiencing first-hand a trend of people putting down the keys, including Angelenos," said Jeff Shields, general manager of Zipcar's Los Angeles region.
"With increased availability of transit and a health conscious community, this region's traditional car culture is changing, opening the door to new options like Zipcar. We look forward to working with the city to grow our service even more."
Employees of local businesses in Pasadena can benefit from Zipcar's presence through the Zipcar for Business program that offers discounted driving rates Monday through Friday. This program helps businesses save money, meet environmental sustainability goals and reduce parking requirements by providing their employees with Zipcar memberships, allowing them access to Zipcars for business needs and other uses.
More information, including how to become a Zipcar member in Pasadena, is available at www.zipcar.com or following along with Zipcar on Twitter and Facebook.
Stay connected to the City of Pasadena! Visit us online at www.cityofpasadena.net; follow us on Twitter @PasadenaGov, www.twitter.com/pasadenagov, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofpasadena. Or call the Citizen Service Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at (626) 744-7311.
About Zipcar
Zipcar, the world's leading car sharing network, has operations in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and Austria. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for smart, simple and convenient solutions to their urban and campus transportation needs. Zipcar is a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CAR), a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.