Carshare adjusts prices as Car2go sighted in rear view
Smart car sharing service to debut in city next month
Calgary’s car sharing co-op is making changes to its prices as competition is steering its way into the city this summer.
Germany-based Car2go is bringing fuel-efficient two-seater Smart cars for sharing in Calgary and Toronto. The service is launching in Calgary July 21.
“Calgary is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada, and we see the city of Calgary as a perfect fit,” said spokeswoman Katie Stafford.
Car2go works like a self-serve taxi. Online or through a smartphone app, members can locate the nearest parked blue and white car. Then they press a member card to the card reader on the windshield, get in and drive off.
Drivers are billed by the minute, and can drop the car off in the “home” range, which spans the city’s middle 88 square kilometres.
The fleet will reach 200 Smart cars, and cost 35 cents a minute.
To combat the competition, Calgary Carshare is unveiling a new website, and new rates today.
Is this a sign that car-loving Calgary is depending less on owning cars?
“I think there is absolutely a place for other car shares, I think there is an opportunity for us to all start looking at car travel differently in Calgary,” said Tracey Braun, chairwoman of Calgary Carshare.
“In Vancouver, they can sustain three companies quite successfully. I’m sure that Calgarians, as they move toward more walkable neighbourhoods and more sustainable transportation options, I don’t think there will be any problem.”
Calgary Carshare got its start in 1999 with a minivan. It currently has 150 members in the inner city who have expanded to seven cars, including a minivan, for their use.
Today, the co-op debuts a flatter rate structure: $5.50 an hour between 8 a.m. and midnight, and car use is free from midnight until 8 a.m.
“We’ve seen the growth that allows us to make positive changes in that way. We wanted to reward our loyal members,” Braun said. “We did the cost calculation and based on our usage, we still can maintain the fleet.”
Carshare is a self-sustaining cooperative that doesn’t have government funding.