Item 1: Ordinances on Infill Compatibility Standards Code Amendments

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This article is from the University of South Florida’s The Oracle and can be found at the http://news.collegemedianetwork.com/news/wecar-program- following website: reduces-prices-hopes-for-more-members WeCar program reduces prices, hopes for more members By Ian Lanphier, CORRESPONDENT Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 University officials hope a price reduction will attract more students to the on-campus car-sharing program. Since the launch of the WeCar program in late July, 30 students have registered to use the cars, said Phil Winters, director of the Transportation Management Demand Program at the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR). While that number may seem low to some, Winters said he expected it would take time for the new program to gain attention. The WeCar program, provided by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car company, has four cars available for students to rent — three Toyota Priuses and one Ford Escape. The cars are available anytime to registered members of the WeCar program, Winters said. Members can reserve a rental car by logging onto the program’s Web site and selecting a time slot, he said. Information about how to register is available on the WeCar Web site, carsharing.usf.edu. On Oct. 1, the rate for the Prius models was lowered from $10 per hour to $7.50 per hour, while the Escape rate dropped from $12 per hour to $9 per hour, a savings of 25 percent in both instances, according to the WeCar Web site. The $20 application fee was also waived, which means students are only required to pay the $50 membership fee along with the hourly rental fees to begin using WeCar. The new WeCar prices are cheaper than the Zipcar car-sharing programs at the University of Florida and the University of Miami, Winters said. The rental fees for those programs range from $8 to $9 per hour, depending on the type of car being used. CUTR’s goal is to increase rental usage to cover the program’s expenses of roughly $6,000 per month, Winters said. “We’d ultimately like to get to a ratio of about 40 members per vehicle,” he said.