Computerized navigation systems are a growing phenomenon in rental cars. Avis, which has been renting such cars since early 1995, now has more than 1,000. Hertz began to offer cars with the same systems in mid-1995, and the company expects by October to have 8,000 cars in 16 cities equipped to display computer maps and provide voice prompts. Budget is running a test using a different navigational system on 12 cars – four in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Customers will be able to reserve navigable Hertz cars; Avis’s are on request only. Hertz units are installed in Ford Contours, Tauruses and Crown Victorias and Lincoln Town Cars. Hertz charges an extra US$6 a day for a vehicle with navigation aids, Avis $5 a day.
Budget is testing a voice-driven navigator. The driver tells the computer where the car is and seeks directions to an address or an intersection. The system gives directions in a human voice. The computer will ask to have a street name spelled. The disk for an area – 20 are available – is played via a compact disk player or changer, and the driver can switch between directions and music. Budget is not charging extra for these systems; the cars can be requested but not reserved.
Hertz, Budget and Avis rent cars in the Dominican Republic, but as of now these systems are not available locally.