The University of South Carolina partnered with the car-sharing network Zipcar to allow members of the campus community to rent cars by the hour.
The service began on campus on Sept. 8 and requires a paid membership. However, USC provided students, faculty and staff a free membership for round-trip car rentals for the 2025-26 academic year.
“Our main objective is to help students get around more,” Parking and Transportation Director Brian Favela said. “Now, we have Zipcar, where students are able to rent a car in the downtown Columbia area in order to go get groceries or go to the pharmacy.”
Students, faculty and staff are also able to rent a car for an hour or more. Renting a car for an hour starts off at $15 and increases by $15 to $17 per hour. Students are also able to rent a car for a full day at cost ranging from as low as $77 to $200. The cost is dependent on how long users are wanting to rent a car and the type of car they would like to rent.
The free membership includes secondary insurance for all trips and gas included with every trip. Maintenance and 24/7 roadside assistance are provided as well as a discounted on-campus driving rate. Students have 180 miles per day with a charge of 67 cents for each additional mile.
Students and faculty have access to 10 vehicles on campus located at five different locations. Those locations are Capstone House, Russell House Bookstore, the Campus Village Garage, the Pendleton Garage and the 650 Lincoln Garage.
In order to access Zipcar, students and faculty must download the Zipcar app on their devices. Users must be at least 18 years old with a valid driver's license.
As of now, Zipcar membership is free for students, faculty and staff until August 2026. However, in the upcoming years, it will be $9 monthly or $90 annually, according to the University Spokesperson Collin Taylor.
Student Government partnered with USC Parking and Transportation Services on the implementation of Zipcar for the first half of this year, according to Student Body President Courtney Tkacs.
“It initially started out as an idea called Travel Tuesday, where it would be a bus system that would take students around to different locations in Columbia,” Tkacs said.
Tkacs brought the idea to Favela, and they later came up with the idea of a car rental service in March. Over the summer, they worked on partnering with Zipcar.
“Two of the big populations that we were really focusing on were freshmen and a lot of our graduate and international students,” Tkacs said. “We know that those are the populations that are either on campus or don’t have access to a vehicle.”
Zipcar will also assist faculty in taking students to off-campus sites, according to USC Parking and Transportation Services.
“It would give them more opportunities to mobilize bigger groups of students across Columbia for more hands-on and interactive classes,” Tkacs said.
Accessibility for all has been a focus for the Zipcar project, according to USC Parking and Transportation Services Manager Dennessee Daring.
“If a student ends up getting some type of internship, or if they do have to go off campus, where they may not feel as comfortable riding the regular public transit, they’re able to rent the vehicle.” Daring said.
Tkacs said USC Parking and Transportation Services and student government want to make sure students are able to fulfill their needs through campus resources.
“We’re doing the best we can," Favela said. "I do want the community to know, particularly students, that they are always at the forefront of our decision-making, and if not for the collaborative effort with the Student Government, I don’t think we would be where we're at today.”
Tkacs said she and USC Parking and Transportation Services are monitoring student usage of Zipcar in order to plan further changes to the program.
“We’re really looking at the data to see the usage of it, and then I think we’re going to go back and really look and see what the needs of the vehicles are,” Tkacs said. “Are we going to need bigger vehicles? Do we need more locations for vehicles? That is definitely something we’re monitoring as the program progresses.”
The Student Government and USC Parking and Transportation Services are also working on other projects pertaining to student transportation.
“We’re also looking at our bus systems to make sure that it’s easy for students to track buses … and then we’re making other car-sharing opportunities more accessible, such as Uber and Lyft, to provide students with discounts,” Tkacs said.
Students, faculty and staff can access their free Zipcar membership by going to the Zipcar website or downloading the Zipcar app and signing up using their university email.