Transportation in Texas

by Monique Bird/NTNewsNet

Don’t own a car and need to go somewhere for a few hours?

No problem at the University of North Texas – there’s now a new program available for UNT students, faculty and staff which allows them to rent a car by the hour or day.

Called Connect by Hertz, the program is one of several options to car ownership and/or use that a growing number of universities around the nation are using to help ease congestion, traffic and the strain on the environment.

The service, which began reting cars in August, is available for those times when alternatives – like waiting for the bus – are inconvenient.

The rental cost of $8 per hour or $62 per day covers everything from gas to insurance and is available to people at 18 years old, says Joe Richmond, associate director of transportation services at UNT.

Potential users must apply through the Connect by Hertz Web site. To be able to join, participants must be at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s license and a clean driving record. In addition, users must have a valid credit or debit card and provide proof of their address. If they’re approved, they will receive a membership card which can be used to rent either one of two Toyota Priuses or two Toyota Camrys

The car sharing program is still relatively new in the nation (WeCar at the University of South Florida, Zipcar at Stanford University and PhillyCarShare at the University of Pennsylvania are a few similar programs).

A growing number of other alternative transportation options are becoming readily available and promoted to Texans. At UNT, these include options like carpooling, biking, walking, using transit, according to UNT transportation officials.

“When I see somebody driving by in a car by themselves, I feel kind of sorry for them,” said Richmond, who says he has worked in transportation for 30 years. “They look lonely to me. If you want to combat social isolationism, get out of the car and be part of this environment.”

Richmond says the rental program is so new that UNT doesn’t have a percent goal to rent the cars. However, he does say that Hertz hopes to have the cars rented out at least 50 percent of the time.

With that uncertaintiy, it’s a challenge to determine if these univeristiy alternatives will have similar benefits to other options throughout the nation. While the results remain to be seen, the success of other alternatives suggests that the car rental program will have a significant positive impact.

One of the nation’s largest transportation alternative programs – the Metropolitan Transportation Authority – cites evidence online that helps make the case for these programs. According to the MTA’s website, “transit riders save the earth.” MTA calculates that the average American uses 24.5 metric tonness of CO2 each year, whereas the average New Yorker uses 7.1tonnes – about 70 percent lower than the national average.

While UNT won’t have as many users as the MTA for its program, Connect by Hertz is one of the reasons university officials say “we mean green,” which is a campaign to increase awarness at the univeristy about sustainability opportunities.

“Every Connect by Hertz car on the road eliminates up to 14 personal vehicles,” according to Connect by Hertz officials. “Fewer cars on the road mean less CO2 emissions clogging up the air. In the US, Connect by Hertz cars are all EPA Smartway certified. This ensures less air pollutants and greenhouse gases are emitted.”

While the success of some programs is yet to be seen, other alternatives are making a mark.

Richmond says more students than ever – about 15,000 – are using the UNT Shuttle each day, which makes the university’s transit service its most popular alternative transportation option. “When I do my calculations, that’s about 4,000 cars that don’t come to campus.”

He adds that the hope is that these options will instill a pattern in students that encourages them to use alternative transportation after they leave the university.

Says Richmond. “Your car doesn’t need an education, so don’t bring it to campus.”

Comments

By Mike McDowell on October 7th, 2009 at 6:57 am

Great article. We’ve featured it on our very, very, very brand new Connect by Hertz page on Facebook. If you are interested in Connect by Hertz, please hop over and become and fan. Then, let us know what kinds of things you want to hear about. If you feel like snapping a few pics of our cars in action on the UNT campus and uploading them to our fan photo section, that would be awesome too.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Connect-by-Hertz/140570481789?ref=ts

Thank you University of North Texas!

Mike McDowell
Hertz