MONTREAL—A 100 per cent electric car-sharing service created in the mold of the BIXI bicycle program was launched on Sunday.
Communauto says its one-way car-sharing pilot, which was inaugurated in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal district, is the first of its kind in Canada.
Some 20 vehicles will be available for those who have already registered. Drivers can pick up a vehicle without any notice, drive it wherever they need, then drop it off at a different location.
Cost of a drive is $0.38 per minute, $12 per hour, or $50 a day. Parking will be permitted on unregulated curb areas and resident-only spots.
The service is designed to get people ditching their vehicles and using shared transport instead.
"We want to know the effects of such a project on Montrealers' travel habits,” said Daniel Bouchard, of Montreal’s Environment Council. “The environmental gains could be very significant on our greenhouse gas effects and air contaminants, if this service replaces gas-powered vehicle trips.”
The pilot program is a departure from Communauto's current business, which lets users pick up and return cars to the same location and requires drivers to reserve a vehicle in advance.
Montreal’s bike-sharing program, called BIXI, is in its fifth year with over 5,000 bicycles available on the island. Unlike BIXI, the City of Montreal will not fund the car-sharing service.
For more information on the service, visit http://www.communauto.com/auto-mobile
