Jarett Sitter
Calgary gets another option in ownership-free wheels
Throughout most of its history Calgary has been designed for cars. The city may be working towards building up rather than out supporting transit-oriented development and developing better cycling infrastructure but it’s not the easiest town to get around in by bike bus or foot.
While using a car makes sense in many situations however buying and maintaining one may not. Enter Daimler’s car2go car-sharing service a fleet of smart “fortwo” vehicles designed to appeal to Calgarians who want the convenience of using a car without the monetary and environmental costs.
Starting July 21 car2go registered customers will be able to use a card with an RFID chip to unlock any one of the service’s 150 cars which will be locatable via GPS and rent it for 35 cents a minute. When they’re done customers will be free to leave the cars in any legal curbside spot or designated “Parkspot” within a home area (located mostly between 16th Avenue to the north Glenmore Trail to the south Deerfoot Trail and Blackfoot Trail to the east and Sarcee Trail to the west).
Launched in Ulm Germany in 2008 car2go will soon be in place in 15 cities including Calgary. It debuted in Vancouver in June 2011 and in Toronto just last month. Calgary’s booming population says car2go spokesperson Katie Stafford made it a logical choice for the company.
“You have so many people who are moving in” she says “so as your city becomes more densely populated you have to look at new ways of transportation so that you can continue to maintain that quality of life for people without overpopulating the city with congestion from traffic or emissions from vehicles.”
At present the only local car-sharing service is Calgary Carshare a seven-vehicle 150-member co-op founded in 1999. Stafford acknowledges car2go may not catch on here immediately but says Daimler’s experience in Austin Texas is instructive. Like Calgary she says Austin’s urban sprawl didn’t make it an obvious candidate for car-sharing but car2go has since signed up more than 20000 members there.
“It was a little bit of an education process there and I think it will be in Calgary as well just to show people how they can use a shared vehicle versus their own or versus other forms of transportation. But I think we’re going to see that it will be very successful there.”
Instead of seeing car2go as a competitor however Calgary Carshare chair Tracey Braun believes it will complement the co-op’s work. In contrast to car2go she notes Calgary Carshare offers a greater range of vehicles — everything from a Prius to a minivan kept at seven designated spots around the inner city — all of which seat at least four. Members can use vehicles for free between midnight and 8 a.m. with an hourly rate of $5.50 in effect at all other times. And the co-op model Braun adds ensures any revenue generated goes back into the co-op and stays in the community in contrast to a for-profit enterprise.
“I don’t know all the particulars of where car2go’s money would go” she says “but I would hazard a guess that as a large for-profit that less of their income would stay in Calgary and that connection would be lost.”
Braun’s still happy car2go is coming to Calgary seeing it as evidence Calgarians are becoming more interested in car-sharing. But better public transit better cycling infrastructure and greater urban density she says are necessary for car-sharing to succeed since many people will think they have no alternative to car ownership otherwise.
“As long as there’s the perception as long as there’s the reality that for example people in the far suburbs can’t do anything but drive a vehicle to get to work and back that’s going to be a challenge for us.”
