Zip-itty doo dah

I'm not sure that Newton is quite dense enough to make Zipcar widely useful, but it sure is promising in Brookline, Boston, and elsewhere. Some signs of success: $25 million in new funding and Zipcar's claim that 40 percent of Zipcar members decide against purchasing a car or sell their car and their overall car usage is reduced by as much as 50 percent.

What might make sense is Zipcar minivans and SUVs for Newtonians. Most people with small trucks don't need them except for 10% of the time or less, but buy to meet that 10% need. If they owned smaller cars and used a Zipcar truck for the 10% need, we'd all be better off.