Nada, Zero, Zilch, Zipcar

Boo boo boo UB.

If even UB won't support Buffalo businesses, why should anyone else? For that matter, why should any UB grad stick around then?

There's a reason that tech towns are booming and places like Buffalo are dying. There is fundamental connection between the university, which feeds into and starts local businesses, who then become donors, which help the university bring in smarter kids so the cycle continues.

U.B. should just change it's name to Amherst Tech or something, because it's certainly not doing anything for the city which it carries in it's name.

As an employee of University at Buffalo and member of Buffalo Car Share, this is extremely disappointing. Creighton and Mike have been carefully weighing options of how to serve the communities in Buffalo with low rates of automobile ownership. Moving forward with partnerships with Canisius, Buffalo State, and Medaille will only help them serve not just a growing college student body but the local neighborhoods. Continuing their dialogue with NFTA and Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council will facilitate as well strategies that will enable users to integrate using bus, rail, and car. The fact that Buffalo Car Share ponders how to enhance the regional transportation needs reflects even more the lack of forward regional vision of UB. At the time of such devastating state budget issues, it would seem like UB would want to be as supportative as possible of the needs of the community in which its institute resides.

I expect a public institution to do their due diligence when deciding on vendors. I believe they made the right choice here. Buffalo Car Share has been in business for a little more than a year, and most of their funding has come from a $149,000 grant from NYSERDA. Zipcar has been in business for over a decade, is active in many cities, is economically viable, and services over 150 Universities. They have proven that they will be around for awhile, I don't think that Buffalo Car Share has done the same.

Regardless of who got this contract, I just hope they get sued to ensure a living wage.

Check out the quote from UB.

“The idea of bringing car sharing to campus has been looked at for more than three years,” says Barbara J. Ricotta, associate vice president for campus life. “After extensive analysis, we decided to pursue car sharing through Zipcar because it combined the benefits of supporting UB’s green initiative, part of UB 2020, as well as the needs of UB students and the local community. Every Zipcar can take 15 to 20 privately owned cars off the road. That can go a long way toward reducing congestion and parking demands.“

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1. Support UB Green initiative- Winner is ZipCar
2. UB 2020- Winner is Buffalo CarShare for their involvement in the UB2020. (Already have headquarters near medical campus and cars at UB South & medical campus).
3. Needs of UB Students and Local Community- Winner is BCS hands down.

Every BCS ALSO takes 15 - 20 cars off the road and reduces parking congestion.

I oppose the decision to use zipcar and hope UB reconsiders.

This is not the first time UB has chosen a big player over a local (or regional) vendor. Until about 3 years ago, UB hosted a coffee shop in the Alfieri Center (business school) operated by Fingerlakes Coffee Roasters. The coffee and food offerings were always fresh and reasonably priced. Lo and behold, UB decided to boot Fingerlakes and replace them with Tim Hortons - at least 3 outlets nw exist on the north campus, as if we needed more Tim Hortons outlets in western New York.

This is profoundly disappointing. I thought that UB under Simpson was doing a better job of supporting local. With the power that UB has in the region, this is really depressing :-(

This is an absolute disgrace.

UB 2020 is all about the growth of UB being a driver of the local and regional economy. Here was a chance to help grow our local economy by supporting a truly local business started here.

Zipcar may be a more established service but they are not in Buffalo yet. Buffalo Carshare is already operating in the community. UB decided to go with the more experienced service, WHY? Carshare is run by at least one UB graduate. Some faith in their own alumni UB has.

Terrible, terrible, terrible decision.

i'm sorely disapppointed, too, but the public bidding process does not permit awarding a bidder extra points for being local. anyone who is qualified may bid. buffalo contractors win out-of-town public work all the time and it probably pisses off taxpayers in those communities, too.

it would be great if you could write a public bid to require x percentage of workers or managers live in the smsa (standard metropolitan statistical area, a census designation), but it might not be constitutional.

i have every fear that the hard-won money for the richardson complex restoration will be vacuumed up by out-of-town contractors, which undermines the argument that all that state spending will produce job opportunities for buffalonians.

what a joke, who can we call/write to voice our disappointment?

If they would have chosen Buffalo Car Share people on this forum would have said they are "homers". Then they would have said "No wonder tuition is high".

>the local guy, born on the UB campus, was passed over for the national

Another example of UB & 2020's separation from the community. Other recent examples are the planned forced relocation of McCarley Garden neighborhood and refusal to even consider moving the law school to the Statler building. (It took a Congressman's press conference to get the President's attention.) Also, I was shocked by the recent Artvoice article with a list of UB Foundation salaries. Mind-boggling figures, especially during the Great Recession and when UB wants our support to get more control over its tuition revenue. Alumni, whatever your views, when you get the snail and email requests for money, return them with your handwritten comments. Their response, or lack thereof will confirm this separation.

Incidently, see the bumper sticker "UB LAW @ STATLER" at

http://www.makestickers.com/addtocart.aspx?SKU=90&DesignNumber=100330091901&cid=4g3zov45wehrlj45emz3fb2n

(This is an independent site, & I get no money from them.)

>undermines the argument that all that state spending will produce job opportunities for buffalonians.

Right you are grad94. Remember when evaluating UB's PR statement: "UB 2020 will give Buffalo 7,000 jobs."

>what a joke, who can we call/write to voice our disappointment?

That's easy, stephenjames716. To anyone from UB who asks you for money.

I used Zipcar all the time for the years I lived in Boston and loved it. The selection of vehicles was great, the online booking was great, they fact that they now have an iPhone app that allowed me to reserve a car without being in front of my computer was great. I hoping the contract with UB allows Zipcar to expand it's market in Buffalo off campus as well as on. Buffalo Car Share, while still a young company looks like a second tier offering and all it has done is made me wish Zipcar was in the area. I'm all for supporting a local business but if you aren't up to snuff you shouldn't depend the fact that you're a Buffalo business to get you a contract or customers. Also, more successful national companies seeing Buffalo as a valuable market to enter is a good thing in my opinion.

Hopefully the CarShare guys remember how loyal their alma mater was to them when they're being asked for alumni donations.

I hope Creighton isn't hit too hard by this news, but it might turn out to be an actually good thing for car sharing in Buffalo as BCS is able to move forward with partnerships with the other colleges and organizations for whose smaller population BCS's small but growing fleet can better serve.

Who knows, they might be bought out by ZipCar once a foothold is established...it's a business, not a non-profit. The community-grown organization has grown well in the last year, but adding ZipCar's weight behind the movement will inject the sort of critical mass that might make car-sharing much more widely accepted and accessible.

too bad that BCS didn't get the bid - but they're not dead, nor were they rendered obsolete... competition is good. Buffalo Car Share can rock Buff State, the '222 and evolve into a company that can compete with ZilchCar next time Amherst Tech asks for bids. to ramp up and operate at the level UB "required" may have weakened BCS' services in the neighborhoods where they initially targeted and depend on...
That said, tell UB via email, and when they call looking for $, that you don't fund hypocrisy.

I love how UB announced this the day after classes ended.

The State of New York gave them 150k when they were all UB students to start this organization....

Wow this makes UB looks like absolute ****.

The picture with this article shows a Toyota, presumably a BCS car.

According to "buy local", shouldn't BCS have to offer ONLY GM or Ford cars, since both of those companies employ WNY factory workers and Toyota doesn't?

The point here is a division between rhetoric and action that has permeated every step of the UB2020 plan. UB has had lots of big talk, but hasn't followed up on it, or at times has even done things that are directly contradictory.

They need to be held responsible for this. Not all UB students are UB Believers. UB should stop doling out the blue kool-aid and show us the damn spaceship.

The decision is in the best interest of the student body. There is no way, without handouts, Buff Carshare could provide the fleet needed, now.

Buff Carshare should go forward with their business plan. Why is the populace using this as an excuse to rip UB..and promote the bogus local money argument.

If Buff Carshare grows and can compete with zipcar in the future then UB may not renew with zipcar and use them.

It's not ironic at all that the comments can't get past the temporary "setback" - Buff carshare should be energized not pouty. You are on Mars if you think you can shut out competition with the only argument being "but we're local". Welcome to the real world. Wipe your eyes and try harder.

ANd if they were "up to the challenge" they would have got the bid.

Unfortunately, the NYS public/SUNY procurement system does not give preference to local or even NYS businesses unlike other states such as PA, OH or RI. What would give a business like Buffalo Car Share an advantage over it's competition in procuring public contracts in NYS is if it were a minority owned business enterprise (MBE) or woman owned business enterprise (WBE).

While I do not know about the procurement process for SUNY, I can attest to the wonderful service that Zipcar provides (I am a member in Washington DC). I love the fact that as a Zipcar member I can use my membership (without paying additional fees) within other Zipcar areas around the country and world, including in Toronto or Boston. When I visit other cities, I can just reserve a car online and show up to where it is.

Without zipcar, I would have had to purchase a car, despite living in a city, because public transit doesn't always cover it. I also hope that Zipcar can spread into Buffalo beyond campus.

I'm not saying that Zipcar is 100% great as I've had some issues with them as well -- but while this is now a 'nationwide' business, this too started as a local one back in the day. I won't be a hater if a company can have a business model and succeed, and spread into other markets....after all, that's what I'd hope a Buffalo company could do as well (and if the procurement system was set up in a way to push business towards Buffalo companies in order to build capacity in Buffalo businesses that would go a long way).

More evidence of he significant impact the UB2020 plan will have no the local economy...I guess this statement is only for the well connected local interests like union contractors and well politically connected (read fundraiser attendance, contributions).

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As you may know, we recently lost a bid to become the University at Buffalo’s exclusive car sharing provider. Throughout the process, many of you leant us your kind words and stuck up for the values that we think CarShare represents. Many of you expressed what we couldn’t, and let UB know the importance of supporting the local economy. For that, we are incredibly grateful and honored by your praise.

We want to clear a few things up that we’ve noticed circulating the rumor mill. First of all, we’re going to continue to grow as we have in the past. We’re about to pass the 200 member mark, and next week we’ll be adding a truck to our fleet. As we hit our first anniversary in June, we’ll have grown to a ten vehicle fleet, expanding our network in the West Side and the Elmwood Village. We’ll also be reaching out to the region’s colleges as we grow, including Buffalo State, Canisius, D’Youville, and ECC.

On a personal note, we’re not going to be holding a grudge. We do think that the decision to go with an out-of-state provider is short sighted and reflects poorly on the foundational argument for UB2020. That said, we see infinite opportunity for “knowledge capital” being generated by hardworking, passionate students at not only UB, but the other great institutions mentioned above. As we pursue research aimed at tackling barriers to car sharing in low-income communities, we’ll continue to reach out to students interested in internships and volunteer opportunities. It’s how this non-profit launched and how it will continue to thrive; commitments from people, not institutions.

Lastly, we want to point out that we have been and will continue to offer premium, personal service at a competitive price. There is a myth out there that the corporate giant always offers a better deal, and it’s often not true. In this case, we’re actually cheaper than the competition for many drivers.

So with all that in mind, we welcome the competition to town. Good luck Zipcar, you’ll need it!

Sincerely,
The Buffalo CarShare Team

UB is a bunch of hypocrites: Check this out talking to a co-founder of Buffalo CarShare!
http://admissions.buffalo.edu/changeit/adam_blair.php