This fall, Madison quietly added a second car-sharing service when Zip Car opened an outlet on the UW campus.
One upshot is that Madison's established, homegrown car-share service, Community Car, has lost its free parking spaces on campus. John Ribolzi, vice president of Community Car, says the university earlier this year decided to bid out the right for campus car-sharing, which allows people to rent cars by the hour. Though Community Car bid to provide the service, Zip Car won out, presumably offering to pay the university more for the privilege of parking cars on campus and getting promoted on the university website.
According to Zip Car's website, the company has four cars currently on the UW campus.
Community Car moved its vehicles to off-campus sites near the UW, Ribolzi says.
"Competition is always a good thing," Ribolzi says of its new competitor. "It keeps us on our toes. Having Zip Car here will help grow the awareness of car-sharing in Madison."
