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Carshare services return to Princeton

Enterprise_CarShare_car.JPG
Courtesy of An Errant Knight / Wikimedia Commons

After over a year, carshare services returned to the University this past week, offering students and faculty the ability to rent transportation by the hour or the day. 

An email sent to all undergraduate students on Sept. 17 detailed information about the service, including the 14-vehicle Enterprise CarShare fleet located at spots throughout campus. Enterprise offers an accessible and more affordable option to rent cars for princeton.edu email holders who are older than 18 and hold either a valid U.S. driver’s license or international driver’s license. 

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According to Enterprise Carshare’s website, rental rates at the University campus locations start at just $5/hour or $40/day, with fuel, insurance, and parking costs included. The rental works by using a membership card mailed to students or faculty upon application approval to unlock the vehicles. 

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Michael Emperor ’25 expressed his excitement for the service to be available. 

“I think it’ll be useful for students to access resources that aren’t necessarily within walking distance of campus, and explore places and towns around N.J.,” he said.

Hector Betanzos ’22, who used the service in his first two years at Princeton, told the ‘Prince’ that it was hard to adjust to not having a personal car on campus. 

“Life as a first and second-year was really difficult; as an FLI student, [moving to campus] kind of felt like a 180 compared to back home, as far as having access to cars,” he said.

Betanzos emphasized that the service is especially helpful for students who don’t have the ability to keep cars on campus and may need access to them sometimes. 

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“I think that seniors living off-campus or those in eating clubs or on independent meal plans will find it super useful to be able to rent a car just to run to get groceries or supplies for their clubs,” he said.

According to the Transportation and Parking Services website, cars can be found at the following locations, which are marked by Enterprise CarShare signage:

- Lot 8/University Store – three vehicles

- Lot 20 – six vehicles

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- Lawrence Apartments (near bus stop) – two vehicles

- Lakeside Apartments (first floor of garage) – two vehicles

- Graduate College (at the Tower) – one vehicle

New this year is the addition of two cars affiliated with the Zipcar rental company. The service is similar to Carshare, with rates starting at $9.50/hr and $79/day. Users do not need to be a princeton.edu email holder to rent but must hold either a valid U.S. driver’s license or international driver’s license. These cars can be found in the Princeton Railroad Station/Wawa parking lot next to the 15-minute meters and are marked by Zipcar signage. 

Students can find more information on the service and sign up for a membership at either the Enterprise or Zipcar website. 

Bailey Glenetske is a news contributor at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at baileyglenetske@princeton.edu.