Would a car-sharing club work for you?

If you live in a city, you don't need to own a car 

William Clay Ford Jr., Chaiman, Ford Motor Company

For those new to this idea, car-sharing clubs give you access to a locally parked car when you need one.  You book a vehicle online and pay for distance driven and/or booked time.  They are a cost effective alternative to car ownership if you only need a car 2 or 3 times a week.  VrtuCar is Ottawa's only club and has over 60 clean, fuel-efficient cars in the city.  I was very impressed when I used a similar service in the UK so I asked twitter folks in Ottawa what they think of Vrtu Car.

Nearly all the reviews were positive, and the few other comments merely show that this transport option is not right for everyone.  My better-half, for example, likes to know that he has a car right there when he needs it.  I prefer not to maintain, tax and insure a car I rarely use, and I like riding my bike, so car-sharing works for me.

Our own car club experience went really well. The combination of shared car, walking, bikes, public transport and the occasional taxi was convenient and economical; at least until our closest shared car lost its parking spot and disappeared. The next one was 10 minutes away and became overbooked when the first one vanished.  This gave me my first 'Is car sharing right for you' rule;  There should be more than one car within 5 minutes walk of your house.  A couple of twitterers also said they had enjoyed VrtuCar but could no longer use it when they moved out of the city centre.

The next big question is related - How organised are you and does your week follow a predictable routine.  Families with school-aged children tend to have more fixed schedule (Wednesday - swimming)  with playdates and activities planned in advance.  Car club bookings fit well into this type of family calendar.   I find getting the car back on time sometimes adds stress - admittedly I can extend bookings by phone, but stopping to phone slows me down even more!  The extra half hour costs much less than a late fee so planning and routine are essential. 

What are your other transport resources?  How many of your routine trips can you complete by bike, bus or on foot with the occasional taxi ride thrown in?  If the answer is 'many' then a pay-as-you-go shared car will probably be great for you. My friend Dagne Forrest writes a blog called 'Car Free with Kids'  As biking enthusiasts with older children they have also found that car-sharing works well - even for an un-planned trip to the doctor.  If I were still negotiating toddlers around a city I might prefer to take them on a bus, so if you have used car-sharing in the toddler years please let us know how it worked/works for you.  For child-free down-town dwellers the public transport/car club/exercise combination looks perfect to me.  

With 2 cars close by I never had trouble finding a car when I needed it, though Saturdays and Sundays do get booked up earlier than weekdays.  Some city centre cars are probably busy during the week too because businesses use car clubs as an alternative to fleet management.  Although we are not using it right now we will maintain our club membership for those rare occasions when we need a 2nd car.  Multi-city memberships can also be useful when traveling.  

Car-sharing may not be right for you if you use a car every day, live far from public transport or see your car as more than just a way to get you and your stuff from A to B.  Then again if I ever do get my 'hobby' car or another motorbike, car sharing will make an excellent practical back-up.  Somehow they never film those 'joy of the open road' commercials with silver-haired drivers stuck in traffic and pouring rain!

Useful links to learn more about car-sharing

VrtuCar in Ottawa

Car clubs operating in Canadian cities

UK Car club hub page.

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News from VrtuCar

Because VrtuCar has often been discussed on twitter and many Ask Around members live outside the city centre I asked the VrtuCar head office about their plans for the coming year. 

Barbara Griffin, their operations manager, told me that every new 'station' presents 2 related challenges; Each car needs at least 30 regular drivers to be cost-effective and each station needs to be less than 1,000m away from it's nearest neighbour (see my '5 minute' rule above).  However, in the next year VrtuCar plans to add more cars to existing locations and is working with the City of Ottawa to expand into the Baseline/Woodroffe area once construction there is completed.  Barbara also said they also have built partnerships with building owners and developers for new car-sharing stations at Preston and Carling, St. Denis St. in Vanier, and The World Exchange Plaza downtown.

Good news if you are waiting for car-sharing to reach one of those areas!

 
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Here are the VrtuCar reviews sent in by @AskAroundOttawa followers at twitter.com

• Vrtucar? I've been using it since it only had one car. So good on price and service they are keeping the big chain out (Zip)
• Vrtucar is great. The only catch is the per/km fee instead of flat rate. I prefer ZIPcar (TO, Vancouver) but this will do!  We use it on average about 5 or 6 times a month? MUCH cheaper than owning a car, by leaps and bounds!
• No! I'm not a car = toaster (appliance) type ! No Fits, Echo's and Civics for me :-)
• Was Vrtucar member until I moved. Loved it! Cheaper than cabs & faster than bussing. Though sticking to time slots is difficult
• I used VrtuCar for 5 years. Was happy with service but they didn't have a car in my new area - only reason why I left.  Wasn't enough demand for cars in my new area. Access to Ecopass was a nice feature too.

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So there you go.  If it fits your lifestyle and you have cars located close by, car sharing clubs can be a great alternative to car ownership. Maybe you are considering retiring a gas-guzzler or already have car club experiences to share?  We would love to hear from you and VrtuCar has genrously offered one of their signature golf shirts for an Ask Around reader.  I will draw a name from the list of everyone who adds a comment here, or a car-sharing tweet @AskAroundOttawa

 

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Comments

[San Fernando Valley Ford]

A good idea for certain people but not for me personally. I can see this system working if you live in a European city with a great public transport system like Paris. I live in Los Angeles, in CA and I drive a LOT every day. All I do is drive. No one walks here and it's too far to bike from one city to another. I wouldn't be able to live without my car.

[Jacob Rodman]

I do believe that cars sometimes are not greatly needed. And it's very cool that you can always run somewhere to borrow a car when you need it. It's just a practical choice and it just fits your lifestyle very well.