Imagine working downtown or attending the University of Utah without having to worry about finding a parking spot — or paying for one.

Add to that the convenience of having a reliable car or truck available when needed, without the responsibility of maintenance, gas or a car payment.

And finally, picture fewer cars on Salt Lake City streets, making downtown more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly and improving air quality.

It's a vision shared by Salt Lake City, Utah Transit Authority and University of Utah officials — and it's all about sharing.

The three entities are working together to bring a car-sharing program to Salt Lake City that would provide an hourly car-rental option to commuters and students.

Car-sharing companies such as Zipcar partner with cities, universities and businesses to make vehicles available on demand to people who only need them for a few hours at a time.

With an annual membership of between $30 and $50, people can reserve cars by phone or online for specific hours of the day for about $10 to $15 per hour. Motorists use their membership cards and personal identification numbers to unlock the vehicles and obtain the keys from the glove box.

"It's really effective," said Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. "I know people who use it in other cities, and they've gotten rid of their vehicles.... It's a very convenient and inexpensive way for people to get around when they don't need to use their vehicles a lot."

City and university transportation officials envision having shared cars available on campus and at the Intermodal Hub at 300 South and 600 West, the nexus for UTA's commuter and light-rail trains and bus service.

Other cars could be parked at various sites throughout the city, said Tim Harpst, Salt Lake City's transportation director.

"People living or working downtown know they're going to have limited parking," Harpst said. "(Car sharing) helps encourage the lifestyle of living downtown."

UTA officials see car-sharing as a way to complement transit service, said spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware.

"Say someone who lives in Ogden takes FrontRunner to Salt Lake City, but their final destination is not compatible with TRAX, bus service or bicycling," Bohnsack-Ware said. "This person could reserve a car online, and when they arrived at the Salt Lake Central Station, the car would be waiting for them."

When they're done with the car, they could return it where they picked it up and catch FrontRunner back to Ogden, she said.

"Preliminarily, it looks like a great fit within the agency," Bohnsack-Ware said.

UTA plans to issue a request for proposals in the coming weeks to the handful of car-sharing companies operating in the United States to better determine how such a program would work in Salt Lake City.

Zipcar is the nation's largest car-sharing company, serving 23 U.S. cities — including San Francisco, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque, N.M. Company officials estimate that each Zipcar in service replaces more than 15 privately owned vehicles.

Other car-sharing companies include WeCar from Enterprise Rent-A-Car and U-Haul's U Car Share.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com