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Moving to Sustainability: Car Sharing in K-W

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The People's Car Co-operative Inc. (PCC) is a non-profit car-sharing co-operative (without share capital) located in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. PCC was incorporated in 1998 with the goals of encouraging as many people as possible to give up individual car ownership; to provide fleet cars that are the least environmentally damaging possible; to educate members and the public about the environmental advantages of car sharing, and about the political and economic advantages of a locally-based co-operative model; and to provide an affordable means of transportation for low-income people. Subsequent to these goals PCC developed the goal to foster a more multi-modal, integrated transportation system, i.e. integrating car sharing with cycling and public transit.

What are they doing?

The environmental benefit of car sharing comes not just from the fact that as many as fifteen to twenty members share access to one car. It also comes from the fact that, because car sharers pay for each kilometer and hour of driving, they become much more aware of the true costs of driving and consciously reduce their driving as a result. The goal of Moving to Sustainability: Car Sharing in K-W is to increase overall membership in PCC, thereby working to reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Kitchener-Waterloo. This goal will be achieved by implementing and promoting the following new and innovative PCC sustainable transportation services:

  1. Bike-Share Hubs - a pilot project to integrate car sharing and cycling into one multi-modal system. This pilot project will consist of two Phases. During Phase 1 a Bike Share Hub will be located at each of the co-op's vehicle pods/locations (currently four). Each hub will consist of a secure bicycle storage facility/rack and six rebuilt used bikes. Depending on the success of Phase 1, Phase 2 will consist of working towards integrating the Bike Share Hubs with the Yellow Bike Programme at the University of Waterloo - currently operating for students. This will set the stage for developing a larger community-wide bike-share network.
  2. On-line PCC Booking " an incentive for today"s internet-savvy public. Online booking will have the added incentive that it will be cheaper for members to use than telephone booking - a cost-saving incentive.
  3. Member Debentures - create the administrative structure to issue member debentures.
  4. PCC Transportation Bank - to establish and to promote a Transportation Bank, an interest-free loan program to make the initial PCC membership loan affordable to low-income earners.
  5. Public Outreach and Educational Campaign - to promote the above services throughout the duration of the project.
  6. Market Research Study - to conduct a market research study for adding a wheelchair-accessible van to PCC's fleet to make car sharing accessible to those who require wheelchairs.
     

Where can you find more information?

Grand River Car Share - Community Projects

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Date modified:
2010-02-03