If you would like to use a car only on occasion, you're in luck, as city planners are hoping to introduce more car share spaces and permits as part of a pilot program within the City Centre area come fall.
Car sharing company Car2Go plans to access a designated car-share space at each Canada Line station as well as obtain 51 parking permits from the City of Richmond in order to expand its operation beyond Vancouver and North Vancouver.
The benefits of car sharing are numerous, according to a report by Victor Wei, the city's director of transportation; not only do car shares reduce carbon emissions and the number of vehicles on the road, having designated parking spaces in the city can result in more people visiting attractions in the city.
Presently, two other companies have made their way into the Richmond market — Modo at Lansdowne station and Zip Car, located at Richmond Centre Mall. Car2Go has spaces at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
If approved by council today the pilot program will expand to give Car2Go vehicles a designated parking space near each of the four Canada Line stations as well as access to street parking spaces and three city-owned pay parking lots throughout the area: Gateway Theatre, Bowling Green and Brighouse. Spaces are also available at Richmond City Hall.
If Car2Go's Canada Line spaces are approved it will leave six more car share spaces available to other companies along the transit line.
Car2Go is thought to be a more flexible car share program as it's the only one in Metro Vancouver with no reservation system, no time limit on usage and no requirement to return the vehicle at the initial pickup point (rather, it can be dropped off at any other designated location in the region). Its fleet stands at just over 500 vehicles with a regional membership base of nearly 50,000.
The company told Wei it expects to have up to 51 vehicles in Richmond at any given time during the pilot. Cars parking on the city street will be billed automatically by the city so users need not worry about paying. Standard rates apply for parking meters and the city will bill Car2Go $300 annually for Canada Line spots.
The fleet consists of Smart microcars and users can find them using a mobile application. They come with an in-car navigation system that has all the available parking spots pre-programmed. Users are given a chip card to lock and unlock the vehicle and the keys remain inside.
Wei cited a Car2Go survey indicating about half of users have no private vehicles and of those who do, one-quarter have sold or are reconsidering the need for one.
Wei said the program will be reviewed after one year.
@WestcoastWood
