Community CarShare

Charitable foundation in Ontario

Community CarShare
Merged into	Vrtucar
Successor	Communauto
Formation	April 1, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-04-01)
Founders	Marc Xuereb, Daryl Novak, and others
Founded at	Waterloo Region
Dissolved	March 27, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-03-27)
Type	Non-profit co-op
Headquarters	Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Area served	Waterloo Region, Hamilton, Guelph, St. Catharines, London; Brampton, and Burlington
Services	Carsharing
Staff	7
Website	communitycarshare.ca

Community CarShare was a non-profit, carsharing co-op in southern Ontario, that was founded in 1998. It ran into financial trouble and was acquired by Vrtucar on 27 March 2018.^[1]

They operated in Waterloo Region, Hamilton,^[2] Guelph,^[3] St. Catharines,^[4] London,^[5] and Brampton.^[6]

The co-op was founded in 1998, as Ontario's first carsharing program, under the name The People's Car Co-operative Inc..^[7] At the 2014 AGM, the members of the co-op voted to change the incorporated name to Community CarShare Co-operative, Inc.

History

Founding years 1998-2005

Community CarShare began in Waterloo Region on April 1, 1998. It was started by a group of 10 friends who had a car donated to them, but didn't want to deal with the costs of car ownership. The first car was located in the City of Waterloo, near the corner of Bridgeport and Peppler street.

Local expansion 2005-2009

In Fall 2007, the co-op expanded its service into Cambridge when it added a tenth vehicle to the fleet. As part of the growth into Cambridge, the organization updated its operating name from The People's Car Co-op to Grand River CarShare, to reflect the environmental benefits of carsharing and to localize the name of the co-op.

Province wide expansion 2009-2014

In April 2009, the co-op's geographic borders expanded again when a group of Hamiltonians decided to join the co-op and expand service to that city under the co-op's second operating name, Hamilton CarShare. In less than five months, 50 new members were recruited, and three vehicles were launched in Hamilton in September 2009. Expansion to St. Catharines and Guelph in 2013 led to the adoption of the name Community CarShare in order to simplify the use of the name and convey the values of the organization.

There are currently 76 vehicles available to members, with the majority of them located in Kitchener-Waterloo. The fleet includes many vehicles such as the Toyota Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Prius C, plug-in Prius, Tacoma, the fully electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV,^[8]^[9] a Ford Transit Connect cargo van, Mazda 5 station wagon, and Dodge Caravan mini van.

Rural expansion

Community CarShare expanded to rural Elmira (population ~8,000 people) north of Waterloo.^[10] All vehicles in the fleet equipped with winter tires and can be delivered to a specific location.^[11]

Sale

As the original Ontario region carsharing service, it was sold to Canada's largest one, Communauto, and its Ontario subsidiary, Vrtucar, on 27 March 2018.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Sharkey, Jackie (27 March 2018). "Waterloo region's Community Carshare becomes Vrtucar". CBC News. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
^ Mousavi, Sherry. "CarShare adds McMaster Innovation Park as seventh city location". The Hamilton Spec.
^ "(Press Release) CarShare program launches at Guelph". University of Guelph.
^ Farooqui, Salmaan. "Car sharing service brings popular concept to St. Catharines". Saint Catharines Standard. Archived from the original on 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
^ "New car-sharing company wheeling into London". CTV News.
^ "Community CarShare offers alternative to high cost of car ownership". Brampton Guardian.
^ "History". Community CarShare. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
^ "CarShare goes electric". Waterloo Record.
^ "Community CarShare". Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
^ "Grand River CarShare expanding to Elmira". Waterloo Record.
^ "Quantum Carshare set to magically materialize on Sunday". Waterloo Record.