Zipcar Updates Bring More Flexibility, Airport Access

SDOT Photo (Flickr)

When it launched in Seattle in 2000, Flexcar (later purchased by Zipcar) was a godsend for enabling car-free or car-light living. Hourly car rental, on demand, conveniently located near your home or office.

Then came smartphones and GPS, followed by on-demand car sharing services like Car2Go and ReachNow, which did away with the dedicated parking spots in favor of one-way rentals that could be picked up or dropped off on nearly any street in the city, within a bounded geographic area.

Now Zipcar is looking to leapfrog its younger competitors with a couple of new features. The first of these is one-way rentals, which have existed in several cities for some time and is now available in Seattle. Having a guaranteed parking spot for a one-way rental is a compelling feature. The last few times I've used ReachNow to go somewhere popular (say Downtown or Capitol Hill) I often circle for parking, wondering, "how many minutes of circling before it would have been cheaper to take Uber?"

The second is something that neither Car2Go nor ReachNow offer: airport rental locations. Zipcars are available at the WallyPark garage across the street from SeaTac, accessible using the free WallyPark shuttle. It will be interesting to see how demand for these fluctuates, but in theory it should be possible to combine these two features and take a Zipcar to or from the airport.

I asked Zipcar about moving the cars into the main SeaTac garage, thereby avoiding the need for the (albeit frequent) WallyPark shuttle. They replied that Zipcar "continue[s] to have conversations with the Port."

Do you use a car sharing or short term rental service? Are these new features interesting? Let us know in the comments.