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New housing could get break if project
has car-sharing
 
Suji Moon of the Co-operative Auto
Network, which is so successful it now owns 69 cars
CREDIT: Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
When the Co-operative Auto Network, Vancouver's
non-profit car-sharing society, started in 1996, it only had a single
Pontiac Firefly -- donated by two of its founders -- and a handful of
members.
For many years, it was hard to convince people to
forsake their own car for the inconvenience of a shared vehicle that could
be several blocks from their homes.
But in the past few years, the popularity of
car-sharing has exploded in Vancouver.
In the past four years alone, the co-op's
membership has more than quadrupled -- from about 300 members in 1999 to
1,300 today. And the number of vehicles owned by the co-op has more than
tripled, from 21 to 69.
And now the city of Vancouver is getting behind
the idea.
City engineer Dale Bracewell said city planners
are so impressed by the success of car-sharing that the city intends to
include special planning rules for new developments in southeast False Creek
that would give a break to developers that encourage car-sharing.
"What we're doing is looking at the
developments of False Creek and having car-sharing vehicles from day
one," Bracewell said.
Bracewell said the city is hopeful that, by
encouraging car-sharing from the very beginning, it can encourage southeast
False Creek -- which will be home to about 13,000 people -- to develop in a
less car-centred way.
"We're seeing it as part of the whole
planning process," he said.
The idea is inspired by the success of Electric
Avenue, a condominium development at Burrard and Smithe, whose developers
were given the city's permission to build fewer parking spots in return for
agreeing to buy seven cars for the co-op and encourage its residents to
join.
The developers only expected about 10 per cent of
the building's 426 residents to join the co-op. In all, 26 per cent signed
up.
Suji Moon, acting executive director for the
co-op, said the organization's deal with Electric Avenue, which is due to
open in 2005, was a win for both of them.
"It generally costs about $15,000 to build an
underground parking stall," Moon said. "So if they have to build
two fewer parking stalls, that basically pays for a [vehicle]. ... There are
financial benefits for them, as well as the benefit for the people in the
building."
Under its agreement with Electric Avenue, the
co-op will place the cars bought by the developer in designated parking
spots below the condo.
"The idea is if you live at Electric Avenue,
you'll have cars that are parked right in the building," Moon said.
Moon said the co-op has been in discussions with
the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University about reaching similar
car-sharing deals for new condo developments planned for both campuses.
Where once the co-op had difficulty attracting new
members, Moon said it now signs up about 40 to 50 new members each month.
And the bigger the co-op gets, the more attractive it is to new members.
"As our membership grows, the number of cars
grows, and the more cars there are in the community, the more people join
because there are cars that are convenient for them," Moon said.
She said there are so many cars in certain areas
of Vancouver now -- such as the West End, Kitsilano and Commercial Drive --
that most co-op members are now within a short walk to at least five
different vehicles.
The co-op has even taken tentative steps into the
suburbs, with two cars in North Vancouver and a car each in Burnaby and New
Westminster.
It even has a car in Tofino.
However, Moon said the co-op is really only an
option for people who use a car occasionally and have some other method of
commuting to work every day.
Those who join the car co-op have to buy a $500
share (which is refunded when they leave). How much they pay to use a car
after that depends on what kind of plan they are on.
But in general, Moon said, most members pay a flat
fee of $12.50 a month, then $1.75 for every hour they have a car out, plus
27 cents per kilometre (including gas).
Members can book the cars either by phone or on
the Internet.
Councillor Jim Green said he has asked city staff
to come up with a report on how the city can encourage more car-sharing.
Green said he still believes public transit is the
best way to reduce automobile use in the city.
"But car-sharing is very important, because
some people can opt not to have a car, or not have a second car in a family,
if they can have one when they need it," he said.
Green said he's asked city staff to look at the
possibility of creating designated parking spots for co-op cars throughout
the city. He said such spots would be taken out of existing public parking,
not residential permit spots.
Bracewell said car-sharing is an attractive option
for the city because it has benefits for both members and non-members.
"If a bunch of people in a neighbourhood are
sharing a vehicle, that's reducing the demand for on-street parking in that
neighbourhood," he said. "It benefits the whole
neighbourhood." - 2003
November 12 Vancouver
Sun
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