Zipcar’s car sharing service gives Santa Barbara residents and visitors on-demand access to a vehicle, encouraging a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.

Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network, today announced a new partnership with the City of Santa Barbara to bring its “wheels when you want them” membership service to area residents, businesses and visitors.

Ten Zipcars, including four Subaru Imprezas, three Honda Fits and three Honda CR-Vs, are now available for reservation by the hour or by the day with gas and insurance included. The vehicles are parked in designated spots throughout Santa Barbara, including one each in City Garages 10 and 6 and two at the Amtrak Depot lot, for convenient pick-up and drop-off and can be reserved in seconds on Zipcar’s mobile app, online or over the phone. Zipcar members can reserve and drive any one of the ten vehicles located in Santa Barbara as well as the more than 12,000 vehicles in the company’s global fleet.

“We began discussing bringing car-sharing services to Santa Barbara about a decade ago; we have updated our General Plan in recent years to specifically call out car sharing as a program that can provide parking solutions and increase sustainable transportation trips,” said Mayor Helene Schneider. “Now we are finally realizing this opportunity to provide greater transportation choices for Santa Barbara residents.”

The official launch in Santa Barbara builds on a successful program in Los Angeles, where approximately 300 Zipcars are available in more than 200 locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, including West Hollywood, Santa Monica and at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The company was eager to expand to Santa Barbara to provide residents and visitors with convenient access to wheels where they live, work and play.

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the City of Santa Barbara to bring Zipcar to area residents, businesses and visitors,” said Smokshane West, Zipcar general manager. “Santa Barbarans now have all the benefits of car ownership without the cost and hassles, while helping the city alleviate parking demand and reduce CO2 emissions.”

In addition, local businesses in Santa Barbara can benefit from Zipcar’s presence through the Zipcar for Business (Z4B) program, which offers discounted driving rates Monday through Friday. The Z4B program helps businesses save money, meet environmental sustainability goals and reduce parking requirements by providing employees with access to Zipcar for business needs and other uses.

Prospective members can join the service online at www.zipcar.com. For more information on Zipcar in Santa Barbara, visit www.zipcar.com/santabarbara.