Free yourself from gas prices
by anne burke
ucla today staff
Like the typical Angeleno, UCLA staffer Avni Khatri needs wheels to get around. She attends twice-weekly classes at Cal Poly Pomona, visits an aunt in Pasadena and has errands to run. At today’s pump prices, all that mileage can add up. But for the past few months, Khatri’s total gasoline bill has been zero — as in zip, nada, zilch. She pays nothing for auto insurance or maintenance, either.
Khatri, a programmer/analyst at the David Geffen School of Medicine, is taking advantage of a little-known program offered by UCLA Transportation Services (TS). Since last spring, faculty and staff who do not purchase monthly parking permits have been able to drive Flexcars for free, courtesy of TS.
“My friends are amazed when I tell them about it,” said Khatri, who lives in Westwood and walks to work.
Flexcar is a Seattle-based car-sharing firm. In Los Angeles, Flexcars usually cost $10 an hour plus a $40 annual membership fee. To boost usage of these vehicles, TS is picking up the tab for faculty and staff. UCLA’s Flexcar fleet includes seven vehicles, among them a Mini Cooper convertible. When not in use, Flexcar vehicles are parked around campus.
Employees may use the free wheels from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, for up to four hours a day. After that, regular rates apply. But gasoline is always free.
Sam Corbett, TS manager of planning and analysis, said Flexcars are great for people who want to start taking alternative transportation but “freak out” if they don’t have a car at hand. “We’re hoping that people will become comfortable using this service,” he said, which was first offered to employees two years ago at a cost.
Like all good things, Flexcar subsidization will come to an end, but TS isn’t sure when. In the meantime, free Flexcars are just one of many ways UCLA is making alternative transportation easier and cheaper at a time of soaring gasoline prices.
The BruinGo! program now offers 25-cent rides on the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Culver City Bus seven days a week instead of five. For the first time ever, UCLA has extended public transit subsidization to Metro Bus and Metro Rail. You can purchase quarterly passes at the Central Ticket Office or online at a 50% discount.
To encourage commuters to ride on two wheels instead of four, UCLA has launched new services for cyclists. Bicycle riders can now take advantage of $1-a-day bicycle lockers, located at four campus parking structures. The Bike Center — a partnership between UCLA Recreation and Transportation Services —opens its doors this month at the Outdoor Adventures Center in the John Wooden Center. The center offers basic repair services, a tool-lending library and bike rentals. Some services require recreation membership.
With gasoline prices pinching pocketbooks, vanpool ridership is up 10% this year, said TS marketing coordinator Charles Carter. New routes have been formed for employees in La Habra, Norwalk, Pomona/Diamond Bar and West Covina. More routes are planned for Highland Park, Whittier and Diamond Bar. Despite the rise in fuel prices, vanpool rates are staying the same for this academic year.
You can check out alternative transportation options on Oct. 6 at the annual UCLA Transportation Fair at Bruin Plaza. The event runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For details on the Flexcar program and other alternatives, visit www.transportation.ucla.edu. |
