MARTA plans to expand a car-sharing program at its metro Atlanta stations.
For more than a decade, the car-sharing company Zipcar has parked about 28 shared vehicles at 14 MARTA stations. Now MARTA is soliciting companies to offer up to 55 shared vehicles at 22 stations.
Advocates say car-sharing services like Zipcar provide drivers with access to vehicles without the costs and hassles of owning them. Customers can reserve vehicles by the hour or the day, up to a year in advance.
Zipcar says it has 71 vehicles at various Atlanta locations, including MARTA stations.
MARTA first provided car-sharing at its Lindbergh transit-oriented development in 2003. It contracted with Flexcar (which later merged with Zipcar) to provide three vehicles.
Around 2007-08, the agency launched a pilot program at the 14 stations that now have shared vehicles.
In March MARTA issued a request for quotations from companies interested in expanding the program to 22 stations. According to the request, the transit agency would provide parking spaces close to station entrances. The company that wins the contract would provide vehicles “for the benefit of MARTA’s patrons, residents of MARTA’s service area and visitors to the metropolitan Atlanta area.”
Company quotes were due April 10. MARTA declined to say how many quotes it received or identify which companies responded. It is still evaluating responses.
Here’s the list of stations that would have shared cars and the number of parking spaces for shared vehicles at each, according to the request for quotations. Stations that already have car-sharing services are marked with an asterisk.
Station/Spaces
Arts Center* 1
Avondale* 2
Brookhaven/Oglethorpe* 5
Chamblee* 2
College Park* 4
Doraville* 2
Dunwoody 2
East Lake* 2
East Point* 3
Edgewood/Candler Park* 2
Hamilton E. Holmes 4
Indian Creek 5
Inman Park/Reynoldstown* 2
Lakewood/Ft. McPherson* 2
Lindbergh 3
Medical Center 2
Midtown* 1
North Springs* 1
Oakland City 3
Sandy Springs 2
West End* 2
West Lake 3
TOTAL 55
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