By Vic Cox

As of last month, two Honda Civic hybrid “Flexcars” have become available for local trips by eligible faculty, staff, and students in a new car-sharing program.

Sponsored by UCSB’s Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) and Flexcar, a commercial car-sharing firm centered on the West Coast, the campus program provides hourly car rental, including fuel and insurance, for the subsidized rate of $5.50 per hour to those 18 years and older, according to an announcement by the two entities.

“Members reserve a vehicle online or via touchtone phone, use a smartcard to open the doors, take their trip, and then return the car at the end of the reservation,” said Flexcar spokesperson John Williams. The subsidized hourly fee (or $60 a day) covers all gas, insurance, mileage, maintenance, campus parking, and 24/7 emergency service.

As part of the current promotion, Flexcar’s first year membership fee of $35 is dropped. To learn more about the program, or sign up using introductory promo codes, visit <www.flexcar.com/oncampus> before Nov. 28 when the offer is scheduled to end.

“UCSB led the way when we started our in-house ‘Carshare’ program for faculty and staff early in 2005,” said James Wagner, TAP manager. “Based on our proven success with this convenient transportation option, we brought Flexcar to UCSB to further reduce the number of cars on campus and expand the program to include students.”

To bring Flexcar to campus TAP subsidizes each car by $886 a month, Wagner said. That reduces Flexcar’s standard hourly rate by 45 percent. TAP members, who do not have parking permits unless they carpool, have their own promo code, which must be used to avoid the signup fee.

National studies have shown that each shared car placed in service removes up to 14 privately owned vehicles, according to Flexcar. “Now, with thousands of additional people eligible to use the new Flexcar car-share program, we expect the beneficial impact to our region to be even more significant,” said Wagner.

Indeed, Flexcar, which has programs in 37 cities in five states, hopes the new UCSB program serves as a pilot project for commercial car-sharing in Santa Barbara County, according to Williams. He expects the City of Santa Barbara and the county to support Flexcar car-sharing programs in Isla Vista and downtown Santa Barbara.