Within the next several weeks, College Park will have two Flexcars available for rent downtown, according to Bob Stumpff, the city’s director of public works.
“It’s going to cost the city zero,” Stumpff said. “As far as the contract with Flexcar, we are not paying anything.”
Instead, Stumpff said, the city will mark two parking spots for Flexcars and that number could be increased. In doing so, Ralph Burns, general manager of Flexcar’s Washington office, said College Park would be the first Maryland jurisdiction to give the company spaces.
County Council Member Mary Cook expects the council to authorize the deal today.
“This is part of a bigger plan to decrease traffic in the city,” she said.
Flexcar rents cars to members at hourly rates, which include gas, insurance and maintenance, according to the company’s Web site. The cars are parked in convenient locations and members reserve them online or over the phone.
“Where it works is where there is a good business and residential mix,” Burns said. “That is where we have the most success because we have people that need transportation options 24hours a day.”
The company already has five spots at the University of Maryland, College Park campus and two spots at the College Park Metro Station. Burns said Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has given the company a number of spots, as have Washington, D.C. and Arlington County. Although it has spots outside of Metro stations and on the University of Maryland, College Park campus, Burns said the company purchased them.
Stumpff said there are about 300 Flexcars in the Washington area and the company has never had to relocate or discontinue one because of lack of usage.
“Flexcar recently completed a user survey and people that use it, love it,” said Carol Kachadoorian, manager of Metro’s office of customer access programs. Kachadoorian said Metro is looking at expanding the fleet of Flexcars at Metro stations.
Flexcar membership is $35, and the company does an insurance check before providing customers with special cards enabling them to unlock the cars. The standard rate is $9 per hour, but there are also day rates that vary based on the car, Burns said.
