By Joe Linton
Streets Blog
Metro and Zipcar announced a new partnership that places car-share vehicles at ten Metro station parking lots. The new program was announced via a press conference at the North Hollywood Red Line Station. Speakers included Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti, Metro Boardmember Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, Metro’s new CEO Phil Washington, and Zipcar Regional Vice President Dan Grossman. The cars are available and ready now.
Mayor Garcetti touted $36 billion in transportation investment, but it may be these sorts of high-tech, low-cost, quick mobility wins that will the extend the reach and convenience of Metro’s rail and bus systems into Los Angeles neighborhoods. Examples include Metro bike-share, debuting downtown by early 2016, and LADOT’s fare-payment app.
Both Garcetti and Washington emphasized that this new car-share program is part of implementation of Metro’s First Last Mile Strategic Plan, though early action on car-share was prompted by this July 2014 Metro board motion [PDF] by Garcetti, with boardmembers Pam O’Connor and Mike Bonin. Expanding car-share also dovetails with Garcetti’s sustainability pLAn which aims to increase car-share/bike-share/ride-share from its current 0.9 percent of L.A. City trips to 5 percent by 2035. Washington emphasized the need for innovative “mobility on demand” that would seamlessly connect travel by airplane, train, bus, car, bike, and foot.
At North Hollywood, the Zipcar parking spots are located in the southern parking lot, very close to the escalators. If you’re coming up the escalator, look for them on the left, just past the bike parking.
Read full coverage here.