AU students under 21 years old may soon be able to rent and drive cars from Zipcar under a pilot program promoted by Student Government President Andy MacCracken.
AU’s rental car program would be similar to the pilot program currently in use at George Washington University. GW’s program started in the fall 2007 semester and was the first under-21 Zipcar program to be instituted in an urban setting. GW students between the ages of 18 and 21 may rent any of the three cars parked in GW’s Law School parking lot at no additional cost than the normal rates of $9 per hour or $65 a day, according to GW’s student newspaper, the GW Hatchet.
An under-21 car rental program would greatly benefit student organizations and sports teams that want to travel beyond the 50-mile radius of AUTO vans, MacCracken said.
“If we can lower the age requirement we would be better able to promote AU,” he said. “We want to increase accessibility for students and allow them to go farther.”
MacCracken first approached Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Donald Myers about the Zipcar project over the summer. Myers assigned Auxiliary Services to the project, and they have been working closely over the past few months with Zipcar’s D.C. office.
JoDe Nowland, the Director of Auxiliary Services, said that as of Sept. 1, the Zipcar D.C. office was still in the process of deciding whether to bring the under-21 Zipcar program to AU and other D.C. area colleges. Zipcar representatives could not be reached for comment, though MacCracken said the last time he spoke with Zipcar they were “excited about extending the program to AU, but they first have to figure out the logistics of the program.”
Nowland said an under-21 car rental program would work well at AU because the university is located in a residential setting where access to entertainment and shopping is sometimes limited or expensive. Nowland also said she trusts that AU students would be responsible drivers if the rental age was lowered to 18.
“If 18 is the legal age of adulthood, I think that students can be responsible enough to sign up and manage a Zipcar,” Nowland said. “I think the Zipcar company needs to understand that if they want to have colleges and universities as a part of their portfolio, they need to lower the age to 18.”
MacCracken said if Zipcar is unwilling to bring the under-21 car rental program to AU, he would try to get a similar program from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. However, a program with Enterprise would only lower the rental age to 20.
Nicole Antonidias, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said lowering the Zipcar rental age would ease the burden of AU’s high parking rates for a lot of students.
“It’s not worth it for me to bring my car to AU because of the price,” Antonidias said. “But I’d like to be able to travel and go wherever I want.”
Chloe Falivene, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the current 21-and-over program is severely limiting to AU students.
“It’s a form of age discrimination,” Falivene said. “[Car rental companies] should allow all drivers to rent regardless of their age.”
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
