Here’s an article from The Toronto Star on car sharing in that city. It’s a great run down of the growth and the impacts that car sharing is having on Toronto. Condo developers are actively seeking out partnerships with AutoShare and Zipcar so that they can offer car sharing parking spots, and for that they get to reduce the number of parking spots they need to build. The other great point which I had never thought of was that cars were a way to socialize in the past, but with cell phones carving out some of that space the urge to have a car to connect with friends is diminishing.
Also, when using a car sharing service, you pay by the hour to use a car. For this reason people would tend to reduce frivolous use of cars, whereas a car owner would tend to want to maximize the use of a car to ’get the most’ out of owning a car. That’s a great example of two different forms of ownership and pricing having a direct impact on behaviour.
Vancouver also has a couple of options for car sharing, Zipcar and the Co op. I’ve been a member of the co op since 2005, and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about them. They’ve continued to expand their fleet, they’ve introduced new and innovative pricing plans, and they are the original in town. Zipcar is a the corporate new comer. If you are interested in hearing more about car sharing, drop me a line.
Tags: AutoShare, car sharing, co op, Toronto Star, Zipcar
