car2go expansion emblematic of Vancouver’s car share shift

WATCH: One car-sharing company is about to double its fleet in Vancouver, which will make the city its biggest customer world-wide. Ted Chernecki reports.

The ever increasing number of shareable cars on Vancouver’s roads will increase even more by the end of September.

Car2go announced this week that they will double the number of their ubiquitous white and blue Smart Fortwos in Vancouver, going from 625 to 1,250 over the next two months. It means Vancouver will soon have the largest car2go fleet in the world.

“The reason I think Vancouver’s so popular is we have a really dense core, the West End, Kitsilano, Mt. Pleasant, they’re all really popular residential areas,” said Car2Go General Manager Chris Iuvancigh, who says they’ve expanded to meet demand in the city.

In recent years, the City of Vancouver has taken 141 street parking stalls out of general use and dedicated them exclusively to car sharing companies.

With that comes a potential loss of revenue. If a typical downtown parking meter is filled the entire day, it would average out to around $28,000 per year – not counting parking tickets, or when one vehicle departs with time remaining and another vehicle pays again.

But the city only charges car sharing companies three to 19 thousand dollars a year for those spaces. It’s a decrease in profit, however, they’re willing to sacrifice.

“What’s important for us and our transportation policies is we have a wide range of options,” says Jerry Dobrovolny, Vancouver’s Director of Transportation.

“People have lots of choice. Whether they choose to walk, cycle or take transit, whether they choose to drive, whether they drive their own vehicle, whether they’re a member of the four car co-ops, there’s a lot of options available to people. We think that’s the mark of a highly evolved transportation system.”