ST. LOUIS--July 12, 2013: Enterprise Holdings today announced that it is acquiring the business of Zimride, an online service that efficiently connects drivers, passengers and partners with colleges and universities to facilitate sustainable transportation-management solutions. Zimride is the largest ride-matching program in the United States with more than 350,000 users.
“With Enterprise's industry leadership and strength, this will mean even greater levels of customer satisfaction and rapid expansion of the Zimride footprint”
The acquisition closed July 10; financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed. Zimride, which leverages the power of social media by integrating with Facebook, is active on 130 university and corporate campuses. The Zimride service was launched in 2007 by the company now known as Lyft Inc., the industry leader in peer-to-peer transportation. The Lyft team will retain all assets related to their smartphone-based ridesharing and peer-to-peer transportation community, Lyft, while also working with Enterprise to transition and expand the Zimride product offerings.
Enterprise Holdings, the most comprehensive service provider in the car rental industry, operates the flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. The company also offers Enterprise CarShare -- with a suite of products and policies specifically geared to the car-sharing customer experience -- and Enterprise Rideshare, one the country's leading carpooling and vanpooling programs for commuters.
"This acquisition is the perfect complement to our existing car-sharing, vanpooling and car rental services," said Ryan Johnson, assistant vice president overseeing Enterprise CarShare and Rideshare operations. "With Zimride's industry-leading technology, we will be able to even further enhance our offerings and provide a total transportation solution to our partners and customers worldwide."
Lyft's President, John Zimmer, agrees. "Zimride's goal has always been to bring together the best of multiple modes of transportation to create a more social, affordable and efficient system for communities on college and corporate campuses," he noted. "We are excited to have those offerings expanded and improved through solutions offered by Enterprise."
Sustainable Transportation Since 1957
Enterprise has been delivering transportation alternatives right where people live and work since 1957, an early example of today's "collaborative consumption" trend. Forty years later, it trademarked the term Virtual Car, after recognizing the long-term impact of such a sustainable neighborhood-based business model. Today, Enterprise currently operates almost twice as many locations as its nearest U.S. competitor, with more than 5,500 offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population.
"We have great respect for what Zimride has accomplished by using state-of-the-art technology to make car-pooling, vanpooling and car-sharing options even easier and more affordable for individuals and organizations," Johnson explained. "As a result, we are excited to continue serving Zimride's existing customer base and to introduce the software to the largest passenger-vehicle network in the world."
The Zimride and Enterprise sales teams will begin working together immediately. "With Enterprise's industry leadership and strength, this will mean even greater levels of customer satisfaction and rapid expansion of the Zimride footprint," Johnson stated.
Johnson also stressed that Enterprise understands what it takes to run successful, sustainable transportation operations in a highly competitive marketplace. To that end, the company frequently reaches out to organizations like the Corporate Eco Forum, the Department of Energy's Clean Cities initiative and the National League of Cities' Sustainable Cities Institute -- all of whom help broaden discussions about local mobility and the transportation value chain. In addition, Enterprise CarShare and Zimride will be sponsors at the upcoming Shared Use Mobility Conference, facilitated by the Transportation Sustainability Research Center.
Enterprise also is partnering with the Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL), which recently published a special report titled, "Next Stop, Innovation: What's Ahead for Urban Mobility?" For more information about Enterprise Holdings' Corporate Sustainability Report or the company's environmental stewardship and long-term commitment to the sustainability of its business, visit Driving Futures .
