April 06, 2007
Zipcar RFID-Based Car Sharing Service Expands
Car sharing services have existed for years in North America in many large and even some small cities. But Zipcar is a service with a difference: they use RFID contactless cards to open the doors, making it much easier to schedule more efficient sharing. The other difference is that Zipcar is the first car sharing service to go international. Besides service offerings in US cities, they are in Toronto, Canada, and , Vancouver.
Cars have had RFID tech in various components including door keys for many years now - even if consumers are not aware of this fact. However, the Zipcar technology means the ability to produce multiple keys per car.
This is actually an ideal time to get into Vancouver, what with the Winter Olympics coming in 2010 and a cramped road infrastructure. Visitors to the games are going to want to rent vehicles, especially since the events are actually spread out over at least two sites. Vancouver area's roads supposedly cannot take a surge in vehicles. So a service like this might be a boon to everyone, especially if they're set up to handle short-term use.
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