Zero, Zilch, Zip: Number of Zipcars in Los Angeles.
Added on Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Unless they live on-campus at a local university (USC, UCLA, Pomona), Angelenos now have no car-sharing options available to them. Prior to 2008, Flexcar members in Culver City, Downtown, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Venice, and Wilshire Center had access to a large number of vehicles. However, 2008 brought the anticipated/dreaded merger with rival Zipcar, and as CurbedLA reports, the outcome of the merger is a worst-case-scenario come true. Here is an email that many Flexcar members turned Zipcar members received (apparently I was not on the mailing list):
Car sharing is an evolving category of transportation, and we are working hard to pioneer the industry. We are constantly learning more about the best way to operate our service, and sometimes what we learn results in a tough decision.
In Southern California, we have decided to remove our vehicles from areas outside of the universities we serve (cars will remain at UCLA, USC, Pomona, UCSB, UCSD and UCI).
This was a difficult decision for us, and we understand it may present significant inconvenience for you. We apologize for that.
Reservations for all affected locations have been canceled and fully credited. Further, we have refunded annual membership fees for all members who paid an annual fee within the past nine months. Your refund will appear in your account automatically. If you have questions about your refund, please contact us at info@zipcar.com.
We realize that you recently activated your Zipcard. We’d like to encourage you to use it by placing a *new* $25 driving credit into your account. Hopefully, you’ll reserve a vehicle at one of our university locations in Southern California or in any other city where we provide service. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us at info@zipcar.com.
The team at Zipcar
Ummm… no.



