For adventures to Jewel-Osco or when walking seems too strenuous, students can choose from two car-sharing services in Evanston, I-GO and Zipcar. Both are earth-friendly initiatives that allow members to borrow a car from designated spots across the city for an hourly fee, which includes gas and insurance. Although both are cost-effective and help the environment, I-GO is a Chicago-based nonprofit, and the other is an international for-profit company.
For the Northwestern and Evanston communities, the two companies differ in terms of costs, locations, car models and insurance policies.
On May 23, as part of Kellogg’s Entrepreneurship Week, Sharon Feigon, chief executive officer of I-GO, will tell students what it’s like as a nonprofit competing with for-profit companies.
“We have a long-standing relationship with NU,” Feigon said. “One of the challenges of a nonprofit is to be able to grow as fast as and keep up with other companies.”
Nearly five years after I-GO cars were first introduced to NU, Feigon said the success of the car-sharing organization in Evanston has been phenomenal, though she could not release the specific number of members.
Zipcar could not be reached for comment.
Zipcar first brought cars to Evanston in 2007 and currently has four locations in downtown Evanston. I-GO has eight. I-GO members can pick from a few low-emissions cars like Honda Civics and hybrids, but Zipcar offers a much wider range, including BMW and Audi models.
University Services Director Brian Peters said although he could not release member figures, “both have hundreds of members affiliated with NU.”
“They both provide fair levels of service,” Peters said. “I had no complaints that I can remember from people who use either service.”
Peters said only I-GO has locations on campus because Zipcar decreases insurance coverage for students between ages 18 and 20, although he negotiated with both to offer student membership discounts.
I-GO member Emmaline Pohnl said while her friend takes advantage of Zipcar’s international presence by traveling frequently, she appreciates I-GO’s smaller, local image.
“I imagine Zipcar is more bureaucratic because it’s a bigger organization, so that’s a big turn-off for me,” the SESP senior said.
Differences between the competitors aside, Pohnl, who lives off campus and uses the service to buy groceries, said visibility of both services is low.
“I don’t know anyone else who uses I-GO, and when I tell people I do, they always want to know more,” Pohnl said.
Claire Morley, an Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern Student Engagement director, said signs around campus make people aware of the existence of car-sharing, but they haven’t been effective in helping students sign up.
“Its not as accessible as it could be,” the Bienen freshman said. “There are a lot of things the University does for sustainability that students don’t know about.”
