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Want to go carless? It'll get easier this week at the University of New Mexico with a for-profit car-sharing service, a university official says.

Members of the Zipcar service, which debuts Tuesday in Albuquerque, reserve a car over the phone or Internet, drive it for as long as their reservation, and return it to the parking space.

The cars will be parked in reserved spaces around UNM, said Cynthia Martin, program planning manager for UNM's Parking and Transportation Services.

Members pay an hourly or daily rate.

Martin said the rates will be $9-$13 per hour, depending on the car, which includes gas and insurance.

The company's Web site says daily rates start at $66.

Zipcar representatives said Friday they did not want to discuss the program until it was closer to being unveiled at UNM. The company's Web site lists nearly 40 locations around the country. It was started in 2000.

James Lyons, a student at the University of Maine who lives on campus and doesn't own a car, said he likes Zipcar's cost and convenience.

"I had a car in high school, and I was paying as much as I could just to keep it running," said Lyons, 20. "Then the public transportation isn't maintained that well, and it's just easier to drive a car around than to worry about bus stops."

UNM students, staff, faculty and the general public will be able to use the service, Martin said.

The company's Web site says each Zipcar can replace up to 20 individually owned vehicles.

Unlike a rental car service, students 18 and older can use Zipcar if they have a driver's license and a clean record, she said.

UNM will not pay for or profit from the program.

Martin said she thinks Zipcar will be a big hit, and will hopefully reduce parking problems at UNM.

She said students who live on campus often don't need a car regularly, but own one for those rare occasions.

"Now you can get a group of students together to go to Santa Fe," she said. "At $10 an hour, with gas included, that's really reasonable."

Zipcar will make vanpooling and public transportation more attractive to staff and faculty, because they won't be stuck on campus during the day, she said.

Because it's a national program, they will also be able to use it on business trips and vacations in other cities with Zipcar, she said.

Representatives of the company will be on campus Tuesday to show off the cars and help people sign up, she said.