Some new little blue and white cars have recently appeared in the parking lot next to the 21e arrondissement sales office. These Smart are part of ‘car2go’! Their arrival certainly caught my attention, and I proceeded to enquire about this new car-sharing program in Montreal.
This simple and flexible service made me think of Bixi bikes. Using the car2go app or their website, you can simply and easily find a car near you, reserve it, and then park it in a predesignated spot when you are done.
User fees are very affordable, starting at $0.38 per minute of use with a maximum cost of $13.99 for one hour (gas and distance are included in the price). It’s an ideal service for urban dwellers who don’t own a car but sometimes need one at the last minute in order to make an appointment, or for a work emergency, etc… It’s a new ingredient for Montreal’s cocktail of transport methods, all of which have considerably increased the opportunities for urban travel.
In terms of the reserved parking for the car2go service, it must be noted the Griffintown and Old Montreal sectors are part of a restricted zone for parking. This means that cars can only be taken and returned to a reserved spot, unlike in the unrestricted zones, where the Smart can be parked anywhere. Good news though; two of these parking spots are located very close to Prével projects, either next to the 21e arrondissement sales office or Lowney!
Recently, the South-West Borough Council passed a resolution supporting the development of the car sharing service on its territory, which includes Communauto and car2go. Although this resolution has no immediate consequence, it demonstrates the willingness of the district to develop the supply of alternative transportation. We can therefore expect that the car2go concept will soon be extended to the whole territory of the district.
Here is a video that demonstrates how to use the car2go service :
Give us your comments if you’re a new user of this service!
Nicolas
The image at the top of this post comes from : http://www.larevueautomobile.com/News/car2go-a-Lyon_smart_2259.actu
