Wilmington gives Zipcar a warm welcome

Last week, Uber officially came to town. This week, Wilmington welcomed car sharing service Zipcar. Urbanists across the city will remember June of 2015.
“Our city is moving, it’s all positive. I don’t care what anybody says,” said Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams at the Zipcar ribbon-cutting, which took place Wednesday evening at Rodney Square, with the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival as a backdrop.
The service was established at the University of Delaware back in 2010. Now, Zipcar will have eight cars in Wilmington. There are cars at 10th and Orange Streets, on Harland Boulevard, on North Market as well as 3rd, 6th, and 9th and Market. An additional two are located at the Amtrak station. According to the Zipcar team, six cars are in owned in partnership with the city of Wilmington.
The service in Wilmington will be managed by the Philadelphia team, headed up by General Manager Anthony Vento.
“In every market, we look to build relationships with the public and private sector,” Vento said, adding that the company’s mission is to make cities a better place to live. Zipcar coming to Wilmington could make owning a business in the city a whole heck of a lot easier for entrepreneurs trying to get from meeting to meeting. Plus, Zipcar eliminates the anxiety of knowing you need to get to your car in two hours to move it one city block.
“We work with a lot of shared working spaces,” Vento said. “Those folks are very entrepreneurial. I think Zipcar provides a great outlet for them to get where they need to be without the priorities or tying down of owning a car.”
“I especially want to thank you young folks for investing in our city,” said Williams. “I want you to hurry up and jump in that Zipcar and go where you’ve got to go.”