CuseCar Drives onto SUNY-ESF Campus

The first of what proponents hope will be 100 cars in the Syracuse area.
11/13/2008

• CuseCar Website

CuseCar held its first membership drive Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Alumni (Nifkin) Lounge at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Membership in CuseCar is open to SUNY-ESF students, faculty and staff.

CuseCar is a not-for-profit community car sharing organization, with the mission to provide a sustainable transportation program in Onondaga County that will reduce vehicle miles traveled, lower the carbon footprint, improve air quality, and assist in developing a new green energy fuel distribution system for the community.

CuseCar is offered to drivers 18 and up who qualify for membership. There is an annual membership fee of $100, and beyond that, CuseCar drivers pay an hourly and mileage rate for usage only. The hourly rate is $12, with 60 miles free per reservation. CuseCar's fleet consists of alternatively fueled vehicles, currently comprising the Toyota Prius Hybrid as well as a compressed natural gas vehicle from Honda.

Vita DeMarchi, co-founder of CuseCar and a member of the SUNY-ESF Board of Trustees, has gifted one of the first three Prius CuseCars to ESF for the students, faculty and staff to use. "SUNY-ESF is one of the leaders in creating and implementing sustainability initiatives. It only seemed natural to include ESF as one of the first CuseCar Origination Locations," DeMarchi said.

As part of the program, CuseCar will have a designated parking space on the SUNY-ESF campus. CuseCar will also have convenient designated parking throughout the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County.

Mike Kelleher, director of renewable energy systems at ESF, said, "SUNY-ESF is proud to be part of the CuseCar program and our campus community will find it to be an asset in improving the efficiency of our transportation system. Walking, biking, mass transit and the CuseCar are all essential elements of our efforts to reduce the fuel use and emissions associated with transportation in our community."

For more information about CuseCar, please visit www.cusecar.com.