Zipcar's "Low-Car Diet" Challenge

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 27, 2011 -- For the fourth year in a row, the challenge is on. Starting this week, 36 selected participants across the U.S. and Canada have pledged to give up their personally-owned vehicles for 30 days and seek alternative methods of transportation as part of Zipcar's Low-Car Diet challenge. Participants will walk, bike, take public transit or use Zipcar to get where they need to go - equipped with Zipcar memberships and prize packages that include new sneakers provided by New Balance, Bluetooth® headsets provided by Jabra, and a month supply of snacks and beverages provided by popchips, Honest Tea and Zevia® All Natural Soda.

Three selected participants per city have formed "teams" to represent their respective markets. Throughout the 30-day challenge, teams will chronicle their experiences with weekly video blog posts and regular social media updates.

At the conclusion of the challenge, Zipcar representatives will compile the videos taken and additional results from each team and will post the videos to Zipcar's Low-Car Diet website. Friends, family, fans and other Zipsters can visit the site and vote on the team that best embodies the Low-Car Diet lifestyle. The team that receives the most votes will receive a grand prize of custom-made New Balance sneakers, a Jabra gift-pack containing an assortment of hands-free devices, and a year supply of snacks and beverages from popchips, Honest Tea and Zevia® All Natural Soda.

"At a time when cities across North America need effective solutions to gridlock, pollution and parking, the Low-Car Diet challenge stands as an important reminder that a solution is already in place - car sharing," said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar. "These great participants will soon learn what more than 575,000 Zipsters around the world have experienced - that Zipcar is a convenient, cost-saving and fun alternative to owning a car in the city. We hope they will make the same choices that hundreds of thousands of others have made - to sell or avoid buying a car, drive less, ride public transit and walk more. It's better for the city, better for the environment and better for their health and pocketbook."

As Zipcar's Low-Car Diet program kicks off, participants express enthusiasm over the program and the benefits they look forward to experiencing over the next 30 days.

"As a Capitol Hill resident, local writer and transit nerd, I plan to hit the ground running with Zipcar's Low-Car Diet, and this August I'm ditching my car altogether in favor of biking, walking and using public and shared forms of transportation, " said Patsy Kim, Seattle resident. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm making it a personal challenge to bike to a new Seattle neighborhood each week of the challenge to learn more about the city and its residents."

"I'm the type of driver that uses my car to get from one end of my office complex to the other, and I can't wait to start using a bike to get around," said Rachael Kennedy, Philadelphia resident. "I'm an avid Phillies fan and am looking forward to biking to games from my South Philadelphia home. I've never tried car-sharing before and am so excited to get my friends and my boyfriend in on the car-free action!"

"After dropping my three-year old son at school, I always end up waiting in rush-hour traffic over the Brooklyn Bridge to grab a spot in the NYU Parking lot before racing uptown to work," said Rebecca Williams, New York City resident. "Once I found out there are Zipcar locations next to the school and my office, I wanted to try the Low-Car Diet. I will start taking the subway to work in the morning, but know I can still get to a car if I need to. I'm also looking forward to spending the extra time with my son when we walk to his school!"