City of Orlando launches partnership with hourly car-sharing program

In conjunction with the Florida Department of Transportation’s reThink program, the City of Orlando announced a new partnership with an hourly car-sharing program Wednesday morning, Feb.3. 

In a no cost contract with the city, Zipcar, who has actually been in metro Orlando fora few years now, will now operate out of 6 designated spaces in the downtown Orlando area.

Zipcar’s new locations will be located at: 

• Ivanhoe Village District, on North Orange Avenue, south of East New Hampshire Street
  
• Orange County Courthouse, on South Orange Avenue, north of East Amelia Street 
  
• Lake Eola, on Broadway Avenue at Robinson Street 
  
• Lake Eola, on North Eola Drive, south of Washington Street
  
• Thornton Park, on South Eola Drive, south of Central Boulevard
  
• City Hall/CNL Garage, off Boone Avenue

Florida Department of Transportation’s reThink program, also helped secure 2 spaces at the SunRail station in Winter Park, and 4 spaces at hotels near Disney Springs. 

Zipcar isn’t the first car-sharing program to share Orlando’s streets. In September of 2015, after only two years of operation, Hertz24/7 shut down its 9 Orlando locations, citing scant usage and an overall shift in the company’s focus. 

The Orlando and Winter Park Zipcar fleets will decent variety of makes and models, including a Dodge Caravan. a BMW X1, and a Ford Focus Hatchback.

Membership information is available at Zipcar’s website or their app. 

This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2016.