Collegiate Times

A new transportation opportunity will be making its way to Blacksburg in June.

U Car Share is a branch of U-Haul that allows students, staff and faculty to rent vehicles at an hourly rate. SGA Director of Transportation Affairs Ricardo Boulware hopes that this will help alleviate traffic jams and parking shortages on campus.

"We noticed that a lot of other colleges and universities have similar programs, and we wanted to bring a program that would be effective on campus for those who don't have their own transportation," Boulware said. "My role as director of transportation affairs was to introduce a new alternative program that would be something intriguing to students, more effective and hands on."

Mike Colman is a spokesman for U Car Share.

"For the upcoming semester, Tech students can sign up for U Car Share for free, as long as they are 18 to 21 years old and have a clean driving record," Colman said. "We run a comprehensive driver check on every person that applies for and receives a membership."

"The university had contacted us looking for some car sharing partners, and with U Car Share, we think that college campuses around the country, and Tech in particular, with such a large student population should have a great way to reduce demand on students and their cars," Colman said.

Students can join the program to reduce their environmental impact while also saving the money that would go toward insurance, maintenance and gas from owning their own car on campus. All of these things plus mileage is included in the hourly rate of $9.50.

"I think the economic value of having the program on campus is most important. Not having to bring a car to campus is huge to students," Colman said. "There becomes no worry about maintenance because most students bring older cars, and there are a lot of costs associated with that, and this completely eliminates it."

U Car Share is coming to Tech at no price to the school.

"This doesn't cost us a penny. U Car Share feels there will be enough demand that they will be able to make up the revenue they need to bring in the vehicles from customer use rather than the university having to guarantee any kind of financial commitment," said Debbie Freed, the alternative transportation manager.

The program is also running out of several other large markets and college campuses, including UC Berkeley, University of Wisconsin, University of Portland Oregon and Regis College.

The fact that Tech is somewhat secluded and is dense was a big factor in bringing the program to Blacksburg. That factor also plays a part in students being apprehensive to not bring a vehicle to campus.

"So many of us like that comfort of having our own vehicle and being able to use it when we need to go somewhere without having to depend on public transportation," said Hilary West, Tech's transportation manager. "Having the option of a vehicle that you can use on your own time to go where you need to go is really great, especially for students who would like to have a car here."

Boulware cited a similar reason as far as why the program will hopefully be successful in a more rural market than its predecessors.

"Freshmen incoming to campus will probably see the most benefit, and it will help reinforce to parents that if students can't bring their cars then students can do something else, if it's the BT, their bikes or this program," Boulware said.

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