Like many UC Davis students, Tim Kerbavaz mostly gets around town by bike or bus. He doesn't have a car and, at 20 years old, is too young to rent one.

But sometimes, Kerbavaz could really use a set of wheels – like when he needs to run a quick errand in Sacramento or wants to take a bunch of stuff home to his parents' house in Oakland.

Now that a car-sharing program is operating at UC Davis, Kerbavaz can drive when he wants to. The campus is among a growing number of universities across the country that have launched a partnership with ZipCar, the car-sharing service that is popular in urban centers from San Francisco to New York.

"In Davis, taking the bus is fine or biking is fine," Kerbavaz said. "But for going outside of Davis, it's really nice to have a car, to be able to take friends and come back after the buses stop running."

Joining the car-share was easy, Kerbavaz said. He paid $35 for a membership and gave some basic personal information. In return, he got an electronic card that allows him entry to a ZipCar during a time slot that he's reserved in advance. When he takes the car on a weekend, he pays $9 an hour or $72 a day – gas, insurance and maintenance included. It's a little cheaper on a weekday.

"I have it lined up for the 30th," Kerbavaz said. "I'm checking out a Scion and am going to use that to carry some sound equipment back home (to Oakland) for an event I'm running."

Without ZipCar, the college sophomore said he'd have to bum a ride from friends – or worse: "I'd have to call my parents and have them pick me up."

Car-sharing, Kerbavaz said, "just gives me more independence."

ZipCar is betting that lots of college students who don't have cars would like that kind of independence. It offers its service on about 140 college campuses nationwide, said company spokesman John Williams. About 30 colleges – including UC Davis and Chico State – just started offering ZipCar in the last six weeks.

"They're coming after us as much as we are going after them," Williams said.

The benefits for the company are obvious: It makes money off each rental once the cars are used by enough people on a campus. And by getting students into the habit of sharing – instead of owning – a vehicle, ZipCar hopes to build long-term customers. ZipCar's insurance policy allows it to rent cars to students as young as 18; most rental car companies require patrons be at least 25.

"As students matriculate from college, they are keeping that membership when they move to another city that has the service," Williams said.

But universities benefit from the relationship, too, said Cliff Contreras, director of transportation and parking services at UC Davis. The school spends a lot of money building parking spaces – $6,000 per spot on an open lot and $25,000 for each one in a parking structure.

If students and university employees share ZipCars instead of bringing their own to campus, UC Davis won't have to build so many parking spaces in the future.

"In an indirect way there's a considerable savings," Contreras said.

"We're not having to build additional spaces. … It reduces congestion, it improves air quality."

UC Davis doesn't pay anything to participate, Contreras said. All the school has to provide are parking spots for the ZipCars. UC Davis has eight ZipCars stationed in three different spots on campus. It will add more if car-sharing becomes popular.

So far, 23 UC Davis employees and 54 students have signed up.

Chico State launched its ZipCar program last month with five cars – two Scion XBs, two Honda Insights and a Toyota Prius. Halli Bovia, the school's sustainability coordinator, said Chico State welcomed ZipCar as a way to cut back on traffic jams on and around campus.

The school is discouraging freshmen from bringing cars to school this year and urging them to use buses or ZipCars instead.

"We have young adults coming here who are forming consumer habits they will carry with them their whole lives," Bovia said. "This is a chance for them to experience car-sharing. So maybe later in life they will look at other alternatives."

The program is highly dependent on technology, another thing that makes it a good fit for college campuses, said Williams, the company spokesman. ZipCar members make their reservations online, then go to their cars at the appointed time. To unlock the door, they wave an electronic membership card over a wireless reader in the windshield. The key to the ignition is inside the car.

When they're done with their trips, ZipCar members return the cars to the spot from which they took them. The company hires people to make sure the cars get serviced and cleaned.

"This is a generation of students who have grown up getting anything they want on demand on the Internet," Williams said. "For students who have grown up buying music by the song, a car by the hour makes a lot of sense."

Call The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall, (916) 321-1083.