WEST HOLLYWOOD—The city of West Hollywood has plans to welcome Zipcars at a kick-off event and news conference to launch the new car sharing program on Wednesday, February 15 at 9a.m. in the Auto Court at the West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard.

The Zipcar comes to West Hollywood. Photo courtesy of the city of West Hollywood.

Mayor John J. Duran along with members of the West Hollywood city council and representatives from Zipcar will be on site to demonstrate the Zipcar’s technology and mobile applications. “West Hollywood is a city that has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to urban planning and citizen/resident services,” said Duran.

“Zipcar is one of those initiatives that fit right into West Hollywood’s approach to smart urban planning and living. I’m happy to welcome this company to our city for the betterment of our community,” added Duran.

National studies have shown that each car shared takes 15 privately owned vehicles off the roads and vehicle miles traveled per driver is reduced almost 50 percent when motorists switch to car sharing.

West Hollywood council member John Heilman discusses the zipcar’s benefit to the city. “The partnership we have forged with Zipcar is designed to give residents and visitors an option when they have a need for a car for a short period of time,” said Heilman.

“The program is very popular in a number of locations in the country and in Southern California. We hope it will be equally successful in West Hollywood,” continued Heilman.

Dan Grossman, Zipcar’s regional Vice President, West Coast, discusses the alternative car to the city of West Hollywood, “We’re thrilled to launch this new Zipcar program in West Hollywood and congratulate the city council on their commitment to embracing innovative transportation options for the city,” said Grossman.

“The Zipcar program in West Hollywood comes as a result of strong member demand in the greater Los Angeles area and we’re excited to be able to serve our West Hollywood members through our brand new office on Cahuenga Boulevard, which we just opened this past December,” added Grossman.

The Zipcar program plans to launch 10 vehicles reserved on street parking spots in five locations throughout West Hollywood. Zipcars will be located in pods of two at the following locations: Fountain Avenue east of Vista Street, Orlando Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard, Poinsettia Place North of Santa Monica Boulevard, Orange Grove Avenue north of Santa Monica Boulevard, Hancock Ave north of Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Zipcar is available to local residents and visitors as well as to employees of local businesses through the company’s Zipcar for Businesses Programs which offers discounted driving Monday through Friday. The program helps businesses save money, meet environment sustainability goals and reduce parking requirements.

These cars may be reserved for an hour or several days with rates starting at $8.75 per hour and $72 per day for 24 hours weekdays and $9.75 per day (24 hours) weekends. More information can be found at http://www.zipcar.com.

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