There’s a new way to get around downtown. City Center Partnership (CCP) unveiled the ZeRover, its new electric-powered courtesy shuttle for the downtown Business Improvement District (BID). The ZeRover is a Nissan Leaf (“LEAF” is an acronym for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car). It is a five-door hatchback electric car manufactured by Nissan that was introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010. In addition to being environmentally friendly, CCP expects the ZeRover to save the organization $700 to $800 per month on fuel, depending on vehicle usage and fluctuations of fuel costs. There are 10 charging stations in the City Center Garage and a total of 24 in all of the combined city garages.
Funding for the City’s electric charging stations was obtained in partnership through Plug-In Carolina through a grant from the S.C. Governor’s Energy Office.
CCP’s Clean & Safe ambassadors, otherwise known as the “yellow shirts,” offer complimentary shuttle transportation to and from anywhere within the BID, Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. The BID is comprised of the 36-block area bounded by Gervais, Elmwood, Assembly and Marion streets in downtown Columbia. Last year, the yellow shirts provided approximately 4,647 shuttles, and during the first 11 weeks of this year, they have already provided a total of 899 shuttles. The clean and safe ambassadors also provide cleaning services such as litter and graffiti removal, and various beautification projects as well as providing public safety and public information.
Take a spin in the ZeRover by calling (803) 309-7758.
