GOOD: Zipcar: The Apple of Car Sharing
A neat look at the many things Zipcar does well. I’m particularly struck by how the complexity of fleet management behind the scenes is largely hidden (in a good way) from consumers. Two examples from the piece:
RFID cards and readers: These are low-power transmitters embedded into the membership cards of each customer, who, upon arriving at their car, waves the card over a receiver in the car window. As far as the customer is concerned this simply unlocks the car (which has the keys inside). But there is a complex process going on in the background. The car sends a signal back to Zipcar’s computers checking that the person, the time, and the car are all matched, and if the car gets the OK, then it unlocks the doors. This technology makes the process of connecting customers with their cars both simple for the user and secure for Zipcar. […]
Car Insurance: Is provided by a third party, and included in the membership fees so is essentially invisible to customers unless they need to make a claim.
Source: GOOD
5 Notes/ Hide
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benkraal liked this
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lacedwithcement reblogged this from smarterplanet and added:
I see that University of Minnesota recently got ZipCar service. I may have to ditch my car… probably not.
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smarterplanet reblogged this from tayloransley
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