Zipcar Inc, believes that their service in providing short-term rental cars for residents of dense metropolitan cities has solid potential to expand beyond the 13 American states and Canadian Provinces that currently host operations, writes the Associated Press.

The company has recently invested $500,000 to create a new online reservation system and restructured their fleet management programs to broaden its customer base. The new online features are designed to make reservations simpler and to also allow Zipcar to track vehicle availabilities more quickly.

The company hopes that the rising costs of gas and parking in metropolitan areas will lead to a greater demand for its service, and also that its new reservation system will attract non-tech-savvy customers.

Zipcar’s demographics show 90 percent of customers having college degrees, and two-thirds aging 21 to 35, but it predicts the new changes will bring more middle-aged customers, reports the Associated Press.

The company currently counts about 85,000 members that pay fees starting at $7.50 an hour and $56 a day for vehicles, and maintains a total fleet number of about 2,500 vehicles. Zipcar operates in San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Ann Arbor, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C

Zipcar just expanded into London late last year, and has plans to move into four new metropolitan cities this year, three probably being in North America and one in Europe, and the company also hopes to eventually expand into Asia.

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