Tampa Receives Honorable Mention as "Bicycle Friendly Community"

The League of American Bicyclists honored cities from across the nation this month with the Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designation. Santa Cruz, California and Steamboat Springs, Colorado received the top spots, with Tampa, Florida earning an honorable mention.

The BFC program is revolutionizing the way communities evaluate their quality of life and transportation network. The League awards this four-year designation to communities that have made impressive, measurable efforts to integrate bicyclists into the community. This designation is one with real meaning-it is difficult to earn and important to renew.

Since the program's inception in 2003, 174 communities have applied and 70 have earned the designation. "In this round, eight communities were given honorable mentions," League Executive Director Andy Clarke said. "It is important to recognize communities as they begin to build bicycle friendliness into their network. But a designation only goes to communities with established records in two or more of the five categories."

The five key areas reviewers assess are education, engineering, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation/planning. Mary Helen Duke submitted the detailed on-line application for the City of Tampa.

For complete article and list of all winners, visit http://www.bikeleague.org/news/092707bfc.php

Zipcar and Flexcar Agree to Merge

Zipcar and Flexcar, leading car sharing providers, announced October 31, 2007 the companies will merge. Together these two companies will represent an international network able to deliver new member benefits and accelerated growth to the burgeoning car sharing industry. The combined company will operate under the Zipcar brand and be headquartered in Cambridge, MA, under the leadership of Zipcar's chairman and chief executive, Scott Griffith.

Zipcar and Flexcar currently operate car sharing programs, providing members with on-demand access to a diverse fleet of vehicles conveniently located throughout major metropolitan areas. To use the service, members reserve a vehicle online or via a mobile device, use a smartcard to open the doors, take their trip, and then return the car at the end of the reservation. A simple hourly or daily fee covers gas, insurance, maintenance, parking and 24-7 emergency service. The merger will come at a time when car sharing is increasingly acknowledged as a smart urban lifestyle choice and transportation alternative. Today, with growing competition within the industry, and more than 30 independent car sharing companies operating in the U.S. alone, the combined Zipcar will have a stronger base from which to compete, particularly against leading car rental firms' product introductions targeted at the car sharing industry.

"This merger will be a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts," said Scott Griffith, CEO, Zipcar. "The combined company will provide our members with increased benefits and improve our ability to expand into new markets. The management and employees of both companies are proud to be contributing to the progression of the industry, and we believe as a combined company, we will be more effective in making car sharing a mainstream form of transportation in cities throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe."

Zipcar currently operates in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and London while Flexcar operates in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Both companies provide car sharing on college campuses where traffic congestion and limited parking are frequent challenges.

"When we acquired Flexcar in 2005 our goal was to bring car sharing to more people in more places," said Steve Case, Chairman of Revolution LLC. "The Zipcar merger will accelerate this effort, and we look forward to continuing our commitment to this important industry."

"With very little geographic overlap, the combined company will serve its members by taking the best attributes and features of each company and making a great service even better," said Mark Norman, formerly Flexcar's CEO, who will assume the roles of president and COO of Zipcar at closing.

Upon merging, member benefits will include:

·        Award winning technology: Members will access the vehicles through Zipcar's Z3D, industry-leading technology. The proprietary platform fully connects the information flow between vehicles, members and Zipcar.com

·        Universal membership: The Zipcar membership will enable the self-service reservation of any vehicle in any city in the combined Zipcar, Flexcar network simply by using the Zipcar.com website or mobile interface.

·        Premium insurance: All members will be covered under an industry leading insurance plan with limits of $300,000 per accident.

·        More convenience: Especially in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco (markets where both companies currently operate), the combined fleets will give existing members of each service hundreds more locations from which to choose. In addition, members will now be able to reserve cars in more cities.

·        Green options: Both companies have a commitment to environmental responsibility, and now members will have access to more hybrid vehicles

Car sharing programs are proven to have significant positive environmental and social impacts. National studies show that each shared car replaces up to 20 privately owned vehicles. Car sharing members report driving significantly less and are more likely to walk, bike, and use public transportation. Members also report savings of $500 or greater per month compared to the average cost of owning and operating a car in the city, and businesses have saved thousands of dollars by eliminating company fleets or augmenting their transportation offerings with car sharing programs.

Please visit www.zipcar.com/press/press-call for details and additional information surrounding this announcement.