In an effort to assist students, faculty and staff without a vehicle of their own, Grand Valley State University has partnered with Enterprise Rent-A-Car the past few years to provide temporary cars for use both on and off campus.

Initiated in 2012, the GVSU Enterprise CarShare Membership Program allows anyone with an Enterprise membership to rent a vehicle on a 24/7 basis.

While many car rental companies only allow individuals the age of 21 or above to rent a car, the GVSU Enterprise CarShare Membership Program was designed with younger students in mind.

Yumiko Jakobcic, sustainability coordinator at GVSU, said the CarShare program allows for anyone over the age of 18 to rent a vehicle.

“I think there might be a misunderstanding about (the CarShare program),” Jakobcic said. “Not enough people know about it, so some people think they can’t rent a car until they’re 25. But they made it for a college campus, meaning you can rent it at 18.”

Vehicles can be reserved online by using an Enterprise membership card. Aside from this, a student must be have a driver’s license as well as a credit card in the member’s name.

Members ages 18 to 20 are required to have proof that they are insured on an insurance policy with full coverage. Additionally, they need a parent or guardian to complete an online form acknowledging the car rental.

Vehicles currently available to rent include one Ford Fusion and one Ford Focus. Pricing rates for both of these vehicles differ.

For the Ford Focus, pricing on a weekday is $8 per hour and $55 for the whole day. On a weekend, the Focus costs $9 per hour and $60 for the whole day. To rent it overnight on a weekday — from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. — it costs $35 while an overnight rental on the weekend is $40.

The Ford Fusion costs slightly more, with weekday rates of $9 per hour and $60 daily. On the weekend, the Fusion is $10 per hour and $65 for the whole day. An overnight rental on a weekday is $40 while an overnight rental on the weekend is $45.

Enterprise defines a daily rate as a 24-hour period. Weekday rates cover 8 a.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Friday. If anyone rents a car for over 8 hours, the user is automatically charged a daily rate.

Even though Enterprise charges by the hour, rentals include a total of 200 miles per car share period. Each additional mile added on to this total will cost 35 cents per mile.

Car rentals must be returned to the location they were originally picked up at. At GVSU, the Ford Fusion and Ford Focus are kept in the visitor parking lot in front of the Kirkhof Center. Both vehicles are parked in the row closest to South Campus Drive along the tree line.

Sarah Yager, GVSU Enterprise CarShare representative, said Enterprise is grateful to be able to provide this service, and the company is consistently looking for ways to grow the program and add new members.

For additional information on the service, contact Sarah Yager at (517) 202-8840 or call Enterprise at (877) 599-3227.