Hourly rates for the WUSTL WeCar program will be reduced beginning Monday, Nov. 1, announced Nicholas Stoff, director of Parking & Transportation.
The WeCar program allows WUSTL students, faculty, staff and employees of qualified service providers to rent vehicles on campus at an hourly rate. The new rates, as of Nov. 1, are $5 per hour for a sedan and $8 per hour for an SUV.
Previously, prices were $10 per hour for sedans and $12 per hour for SUVs.
“Prices have been reduced significantly to both thank those already using WeCar services and to encourage more in the university community to try it,” Stoff says.
The WeCar program provides those who use public transportation (parking.wustl.edu/metro.htm), a car-pool (parking.wustl.edu/bearlyDrivers/bearlyDrivers.htm) or a bike to commute to WUSTL with a vehicle during the day, if needed, for a meeting, errand or family emergency, Stoff says.
Though renting a WeCar does have a cost, occasional WeCar use can pay for itself when compared with the cost of an individual campus parking pass and the operational expenses of driving a personal car to campus each day, Stoff says.
“The WeCar program also serves those living on campus, allowing students the freedom of having a personal vehicle on campus without the hassle and expense,” Stoff says.
WeCar, which uses exclusively hybrid vehicles, also is a green choice for transportation. Users keep personal cars off the road, reducing carbon emissions.
The reduction in the hourly rate not only will benefit those using the program for personal reasons, but also those who use WeCars to travel to and from community service opportunities around the St. Louis area.
The Gephardt Institute for Public Service, the Community Service Office and Student Union provide funds for WUSTL students who want to participate in community service opportunities but do not have access to adequate transportation.
“The WeCar program helps to remove a longstanding barrier between students and the community they wish to serve,” says Stephanie Kurtzman, director of the Community Service Office and associate director of the Gephardt Institute. “The reduced rates will allow us to stretch our WeCar Fund further, so that students can make longer or more sustained community service contributions.”
More WeCars come to WUSTL
Beginning Nov. 1, Enterprise Rent-A-Car will add three more WeCar sedans to campus: one more to the South 40, one more to Snow Way Garage, and one to North Campus. The additions bring the total number of WeCars on WUSTL campuses to 10. All WeCar vehicles are hybrids and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
As of Nov. 1, on the Danforth Campus, WeCar locations are:
- the parking lot in front of Givens Hall (one sedan);
- the parking lot in front of Mallinckrodt Center (one sedan and one SUV);
- the South 40 parking garage (three sedans); and
- the Snow Way Garage (two sedans).
On the Medical Campus, a sedan is located on Surface Lot E, off McKinley Avenue near Olin Residence Hall.
On North Campus, a sedan will be located on the parking lot by the main entrance by Nov. 1.
About WeCar
Registration for the WeCar program, which is free, is available online at parking.wustl.edu/wecar.htm.
Participants must be 18 years or older. Those enrolled in the program will have access to a fleet of 10 vehicles strategically parked throughout the Danforth Campus and at the Medical Campus and North Campus.
After registering for the program, members receive a key fob, which can be used to unlock the vehicle’s doors. Once inside the vehicle, a customer can retrieve the key to the vehicle by entering a PIN into a keypad in the vehicle’s glove box.
Members only will be able to access the key if they have reserved the car online for that specific time slot. Each vehicle is available hourly through an online rental system and can be kept overnight for an additional charge.
Fuel and maintenance are included in the hourly rental fee. Members can fill up their cars’ tanks with a credit card provided by WeCar. Physical damage protection also is included, though members under age 21 also must have their own car insurance.
WeCar also offers 24-hour customer service and emergency roadside assistance.
The university partnered with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to bring car-sharing to WUSTL in January 2008. The program was the first of its kind in the St. Louis area and Enterprise’s first car-sharing program at a higher-education institution. The WeCar program since has expanded to 13 other colleges and universities.
For more information about WeCar or to sign up, visit parking.wustl.edu/wecar.htm.
For more information about the university’s alternative transportation programs, including the U-Pass Metro program and Bearly Drivers car-pooling program, visit parking.wustl.edu.