Students and faculty may soon have another transportation option to utilize on campus.

Josh Venaas, director of transportation for the Student Association, hopes to bring a rental car program to the university within the next few months.

Students and faculty would be able to reserve a vehicle to use from around a day up to a weekend.

The SA is looking at a company called Zipcar to provide the service, although Hertz and Enterprise offer similar services and are also being considered, Venaas said.

“I think this would greatly benefit the campus,” Venaas said. “Many students may not want to bring a car and many freshman are not allowed to.”

A rental car system is a good way to help students who might normally need to rely on buses to get around, Venaas said, citing the Northern View apartments as an example.

“I think it would help out even more [at Northern View],” Venaas said. “It’s hard to schedule your life around the bus.”

If utilized, the system would require interested students to enroll in the program and pay a monthly fee, Venaas said. In the case of Zipcar, all fees cover gas, insurance and maintenance for vehicles.

People as young as 18 would be able to reserve a vehicle so long as they had a valid driver’s license, but younger renters may have restrictions placed on the length of time they could use a car, Venaas said.

Hertz and Enterprise have an established presence in the area; both companies have locations on Sycamore Road. Both companies require customers to be at least 21 to rent, and Hertz charges an additional daily fee if the customer is under 25.

“I think it would be a good thing to help students get around, especially in winter,” said Doug Henager, junior physical education major. “I would definitely look into using it.”

Currently, all plans for any university car rental service are tentative.

Venaas has been working closely with NIU Transportation Director Bill Finucane on the project, but approval from the Campus Parking Committee is still needed to proceed. They will propose the plan to the committee on Thursday, Venaas said. If the committee approves, Venaas will begin arranging meetings with representatives from the three companies.

“We’re going to look for the best benefit at the cheapest cost,” Venaas said.

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