Since 2012, Zipcars have been active on campus for students, faculty and members of the community to use. Michigan Tech now has three cars that are located at various places on campus.

Shur, a silver Ford Escape with 4WD, lives by Daniel Heights. Crowell, Shur’s identical twin, resides behind Wadsworth Hall. Finally, Coovert is a blue Ford Focus Hatchback who lives on Hubble Street.

In order to use the cars, people 18 and older need to make an account with Zipcar. The account involves a $25 annual fee and requires a driver’s license number. For Canadian licenses, a driving record must be faxed to Zipcar. There is an option to try out this service for 30 days and if the customer isn’t impressed, the membership fee will be refunded. All other fees, for example using a Zipcar, will not be refunded.

The rates for the Zipcars start at $7.50 per hour and $69 per day.  These rates include gas, comprehensive insurance and 180 miles of driving per day. Once registered, members can reserve a Zipcar online or even from their mobile device. Reservations can be made for as short as one hour or as long as seven days.

“We have found since the arrival on campus that the program has gained strong membership and the cars have been well utilized, enough so that we added a third vehicle to our Zipcar fleet.  We currently have over 300 members that utilize the vehicles on campus by the hour or day,” said Angela Kolehmainen, manager of Transportation Services and liaison between Michigan Tech and Zipcar.

Zipcars can be found throughout the country and are offered as an alternative to traditional car rental or ownership. For those living on campus, paying a small fee in exchange for the responsibilities of actually owning a car could be much more convenient. For others, they already have their cars with them. In any situation, Zipcars offer a way for all those in the Houghton area to travel and access cars that are snow savvy.