Downtown Ann Arbor, U-M expand Zipcar fleets

Ann Arbor’s Zipcar fleets continue to rise in the downtown/university area of the college town.The downtown fleet plans to add two more (six total) this fall. That’s on top of the two Ford Escapes that are about to be delivered to the University of Michigan’s fleet, which will total 15 by the end of the month. About 1,400 students, faculty and staff at the university utilizing its Zipcar fleet. The fleet has a 45 percentage utilization rate over a 24-7 basis, which is considered ideal because it makes sure a car is always available.”More and more people are taking advantage of it,” says Nancy Shore, director of Ann Arbor’s getDowntown program that oversees the downtown Zipcar fleet.Also up is the number of go!passes being ordered in downtown Ann Arbor. About 5,195 go!passes had been order at this time last year. So far that number is up almost 300 with 5,455 ordered. The go!pass is part of Ann Arbor’s getDowntown program. The pass allows free unlimited usage of Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s buses to employees located downtown, except U-M employees. Businesses can purchase these for $5 per employee as long as it buys one for every full-time employee. For information on go!pass or Zipcar contact Shore at (734) 214-0100 or at nancy@annarborchamber.org. Source: Nancy Shore, director of getDowntownWriter: Jon Zemke