Ride In Style With U-haul’s Help
By BENJAMIN LESCHINS
Staff Writer
U-Haul Car Share, one of Lynn’s several environmentally friendly transportation options, has been outfitted with new technology to make the reservation process even smoother. To say the program has been a success is an understatement.
U-Haul cars log about 20,000 total miles per year, but UHaul is doing even more to make sure that students are able to reserve the vehicles successfully. Instead of a car keypad that required the input of a code, users will now be able to access the car key through a lock box via a code given to the user when their reservation time starts.
This new technology should come as a welcome change to those who felt that the old system was slow and ineffective.
“Sometimes it could take a couple of minutes to unlock and it took several attempts,” said Michall Ureña, senior. Some students also found the inconsistency of the reservation technology took away from the overall experience. “You think that it won’t work and then you have to call and wait and it feels like you are wasting time,” said Ureña.
Students at Lynn will not be the only ones benefiting from the new technology installed. U-Haul will be able to receive more data on the vehicles based on input from reservations.
As part of the reservation process, members are now required to give a gas and odometer reading as well as to take a picture of the dash at the beginning and end of the reservation so that the command center is able to better keep track of how and when the vehicles are being used.
Other unique features of the new technology include a survey at the end of the reservation for members to give feedback on their overall experience. Matt Chaloux, Director of Auxiliary Services at Lynn, believes that the vehicles will be utilized by students even more than before because of the ease of use offered by the new technology.
“The presence of the UHaul Car Share program on the Lynn campus continues to evolve. In the 4 years they have been on campus, thousands of miles have been driven providing students without a car on campus the mobility to get around at a low cost,” said Chaloux.
“U-Haul has continued to advance the experience with upgrades to the reservation system, car access with the new easier to open lock boxes and adding a third car on campus. U-Haul Car Share has been a great partner to the Lynn community.” To learn more information about U-Haul Car Share and to make an account,www.uhaulcarshare. com.
