The College partnered with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to facilitate the Vox Rental Program as of Jan. 1, selling previously College-owned vehicles to the company to manage. The program provides large vehicles — SUVs, sedans, microbuses and passenger vans — to faculty, staff and students traveling for events associated with the College, according to the College’s parking and transportation website.
David Newlove, associate vice president of business and hospitality, said that instead of the College owning the vehicles, Enterprise now owns and manages all the rentals that the College uses. There are no new policies or regulations to drive cars on campus as a result of the new partnership, he said.
Renting and purchasing cars was an expensive endeavor, Newlove said, and motivated the change. As the partnership removes the need to purchase vehicles outright, the College will save money. He added that it did not make sense for the College to be in charge of the rental program when an outside vendor like Enterprise could handle the logistics. In addition, he noted that renting from Enterprise allows the College to have the most up-to-date vehicles without constantly having to buy the latest model.
Enterprise usually does not rent to individuals under the age of 25, but they allow students at the College to use their vehicles, Newlove said. Potential renters must have a background check to make sure they meet the minimum requirements. All members who reserve vehicles must also submit an approved driver application before requesting a vehicle, provide necessary documentation to the Office of Parking and Transportation, complete the online College-sponsored defensive driving course and certify their vehicle.
There is a limited availability of parking spots at Enterprise’s Hanover office. The company keeps the remainder of the vehicles at Dewey Lot on the College’s campus, Newlove said.
The departments that use these vehicles will have similar budgets as before, he said.
Tracy Dustin-Eichler, assistant director for nonprofit careers at the Dartmouth Center for Service, said that the center uses rental vehicles frequently. The center has its own fleet of smaller vehicles, but it rents smaller ones for use in programs at the College, including DREAM, Outdoor Leadership Experience, SIBS and the Special Olympics.
Dustin-Eichler is optimistic that the partnership will be of service to the Center for Service in the future.
“The partnership brings opportunity to directly meet our transportation needs, especially because they work with students,” she said.
Natalie Chertoff ’18, a member of DREAM, noted the importance of cars in transporting mentees to campus from communities as far as 30 minutes away.
She said she has noticed a significant decrease in the number of last-minute problems associated with renting cars and increase in efficiency as a result of the new partnership.
The program is successful to date, Newlove said. The new rental process is a learning curve for departments, but it will ultimately be better than the previous program, he said.
“I think the overall customer satisfaction will go up,” Newlove said.
