Car2go says it's 're-examining' its operations in Toronto

Last week, Toronto City Council looked at a Transportation Services proposal that supports a “Free-Floating Car-Share Pilot,” and would apply to companies like Car2go.

The one year pilot project and interim policy would enable free-floating car-sharing vehicles to park in residential permit parking areas of the city.

But at the Thursday meeting, City Council voted 30-2 to refer the item back to the General Manager, Transportation Services for further consideration and to report back on the April 11 meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

“This is a clear sign that your City Councillors lack the courage to support free-float carshare,” wrote CEO Paul DeLong in a letter to users. “It also clearly signals that they care more about Torontonians who own their own cars than Torontonians who have either shed or delayed purchasing a car because of a service like car2go – people like you who are part of the solution, not the problem.”

DeLong said that the company operates 350 shared vehicles in Toronto.

“This means – at most – the car2go fleet makes up .00035% of all the cars on the road in Toronto. Over 75,000 Torontonians, like you, depend on those 350 cars to move around the city several times a day, unlike the million-plus privately owned cars which sit unused 95% of the time,” he said.

“In fact, each car2go vehicle is proven to remove up to 11 other cars from the road. City’s Council’s refusal to take a serious approach to a free-float carshare policy will eventually force more Torontonians to buy their own cars. And that will only make the problem worse.”

Sadly it’s not looking good. Some don’t seem to think CarShare members also live locally.

— Mike Layton (@m_layton) February 2, 2018

Councillor Mike Layton shared that some councillors didn’t think that members of the car sharing service were local.

The report to council said that supporting the parking issue would help reduce the city’s greenhouse emissions.

“Supporting car-share schemes in Toronto will help to address the problems the city is facing in relation to the efficiency and sustainability of its transportation network, while also reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and responding to climate change,” states the report.

DeLong said that having the decision deferred back to transportation services “sends the entire process back to bureaucratic square one,” adding that “Toronto is being left behind.”

“Given the City of Toronto’s consistent unwillingness to establish this critical free-float carshare policy, we are forced to re-examine our operations moving forward in Toronto,” he said. “This may mean changes to the way you currently use car2go.”

The company said it will update members as soon as they complete their review, but no date was given at the time.

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