PARK RIDGE, N.J. — Connect by Hertz, The Hertz Corporation's self-service car sharing club, has signed its first two university clients — The Ohio State University and Pepperdine University.
According to a news release, Connect by Hertz cars have been placed around each university campus providing students, university faculty and staff an environmentally friendly, economical alternative to car ownership. The effort is an expansion of Hertz's car-sharing club, which launched in December.
The cars will be available to drivers 18 years and older. Gas, maintenance, insurance and parking are included in the hourly rate.
Members enroll online where they will be able to retrieve their invoice and access their driving history. Upon making a reservation, each member receives an email confirmation as well as a text message indicating the reserved car's license plate and location. To unlock and engage the vehicle, members simply need to swipe their membership card, the Connect card, over the car's radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader.
Upon enrolling, the self-service, pay-as-you-go system provides members with 24/7 access to a centrally located fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles strategically distributed over a neighborhood or city, transferring the fixed costs of car ownership to per-trip costs. Connect by Hertz members enjoy a paperless program where they can reserve, drive and return vehicles all on their own, via the Internet or phone.
