Parking on campus

Parking on campus is paid most of the time. To pay for parking, you need to get the AMP Park app and register with your UC Davis email if you're a student. Each parking lot is assigned a specific zone that determines the rate. You can visit the Transportation Services website to get the full details and rates, but TLDR most of time people currently pay $4.50 a day for parking in a C zone. Paying for parking can be annoying, but DOTS (TAPS) is pretty strict with enforcing parking, so it is probably best to pay.

If you have to be on campus every day, then parking can get pretty expensive, so I would encourage people to see if other transit options are viable for them. Also traffic can get pretty bad during rush hour and many parking lots and structures get full, making driving that much more annoying.

Uber, Lyft and Rideshare Services

You already know about these, so I'll be brief. Uber is convenient and widely available, but also really expensive. I think it's great if you're in a pinch or traveling with multiple people and can split the bill, but it's not really a day-to-day solution for commuting for most people.

Using ZipCar

ZipCar is short-term car rental service. There are multiple ZipCar spots in the city where you can borrow a Zipcar for an hour to a day. ZipCar charges for a annual membership plus the hourly or daily rate for a car. They do seem to have discounted plan for students.

As the name implies, the point of ZipCar is quickly go somewhere and back. It's good if you need to quickly get something or run a few errands, but it can get really expensive if you are going somewhere and staying there for an extended period. ZipCar keeps charging you until you return the car to original spot where you borrowed it from. People who use ZipCar generally like it, but I think it is meant for a particular person who does not own a car, but wants/needs a car for short periods of time.

Using Moober

Moober is a carpool service created by AggieWorks, a UC Davis student organization. Moober is for UC Davis students only and allows them to post or find rides with other students.

Those who do not have a car can find students leaving or going back to Davis and can carpool with them. People who do drive can post their route on Moober for others to see. Non-car owners can pay less for their trip (prices vary but a trip from Davis to the bay area is usually around $15) than if they had taken Amtrack or Uber. Car owners can save money by splitting the cost of gas and expenses with others.

Moober is still growing so there may not always be a lot of rides posted, but it is a promising alternative to other long-distance travel methods.