Zipcar Lands in Windy City

The car-sharing concept is spreading fast across the US, mostly thanks to the efforts made by one of the biggest companies activating in this field. For years now, Zipcar has been fighting to popularize the concept by entering as many university campuses as possible.

Their efforts, apparently, paid off, as more and more cities and local authorities across the country are beginning to take interest. The latest development comes from Chicago, where the car sharing company has managed to snatch a contract through which it will provide city agencies with a fleet of vehicles.

Chicago will become the first city in the country to adopt Zipcar's FastFleet sharing technology service and the Zipcar4Business system. The city agencies will be allowed to continue to operate their own cars, using the FastFleet service, while also integrating the new fleet provided by Zipcar.

"In this new era of efficiency we strive for cost reductions, lean operations and sustainable options without sacrificing services Chicagoans rely on every day," said Chicago's Mayor Daley. "The partnership with the City and Zipcar is a tremendous step in achieving this goal and is another example of our commitment to incorporating environmentally-friendly practices into government operations."

The financial aspects of the deal were not released, but according to Jonathan Gonsky, general manager of Zipcar Chicago, the amount of cash generated by the partnership should be considerable. By this spring, says the executive, Zipcar should deploy in the city around 500 vehicles.

For the city, the fleet will mean less money spent on fuel. A report by Frost & Sullivan shows that a car sharing service, regardless of the name of its provider, can cut up to 70 percent of the members' total transportation costs.