Category: Press Release

Communauto is going live tomorrow in Calgary!

Enjoy free FLEX trips of 30 minutes or less for an entire month

Calgary, September 18, 2020 – The new free-floating carsharing service Communauto FLEX will officially start operating in Calgary tomorrow, Saturday September 19th, 2020. 100 5-seat Kia Rios will be on the street and 50 more will be added in the following days.

To celebrate, all new members will enjoy free FLEX trips of 30 minutes or less for an entire month, with the “Unlimited Flex Pass”, usually offered at $75.

The service has been tested for three weeks, for free, by more than 50 candidates selected among first members. Starting tomorrow everyone will be able to locate, open and drive a car using Communauto’s app once registered at alberta.communauto.com.

“The City is pleased to see carsharing return to Calgary with the launch of Communauto’s FLEX service. It’s been a pleasure to work with the Communauto team this year and know that they are helping to provide an affordable and sustainable mobility option for Calgarians,” said Eric MacNaughton, Senior Transportation Engineer at The City of Calgary.

At first, the operating area will be about 26 square kilometres, covering from 50 Avenue S.W. to 21 Avenue N.W., and from 37 Street S.W. to 17 Street S.E.. It will evolve, as well as the fleet size, according to demand over the next few months.

“Calgarians and the City of Calgary, have been very supportive. More than 1,000 people started the membership process even before its launch”, said Adrianna Rangeloff, branch manager of Communauto in Calgary. “With these 150 cars, we feel, we are just beginning to provide a reliable alternative to car ownership. Thanks to the helpful feedback from our users and partners, we believe we will be able to increase the fleet and extend the operation area soon.”

During the three weeks of beta testing, cars were used on 83% of occasions to do errands, 13% for recreation and 3% for social outings. The average one-way trip was 10 km long, up to a maximum of 320 km.

All users in Calgary will be able to use Edmonton’s fleet as well. The service has no monthly fee and its usage costs $0.45/minute, $15/hour or $50 for one day and $35 for following days. For day trips, 100 km are included in the trip price, and additional km are billed at $0.20/km. Other plans are offered allowing people to use cars from $2.95/hour, capped at $20.65/day, plus $0.29/km (15¢/km after 50 km), with fuel and insurance included.

-30-

About Communauto

Founded in Québec City in 1994, Communauto is the largest carsharing service in Canada and the oldest in North America. Present on two continents in 14 cities in addition to Calgary (Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, London, Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, the regions of Montreal and Québec, Sherbrooke, Halifax and Paris in France). With a fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles, it is one of the few operators in the world offering both free-floating and station-based carsharing. Communauto is a private company whose main mission is to reduce the impact of cars on cities while improving access to mobility. Communauto establishes strong partnerships with public transit authorities and offers the largest electric car-share fleet in Canada, in selected cities.

Information:
Communauto
Marco Viviani, VP
mviviani@communauto.ca

Thursday, August 27, 2020 – The City of Calgary and Communauto, the oldest and largest Canadian carsharing organization announced the launch of a new carsharing service: Communauto FLEX. 

“I know Calgarians have been looking forward to the return of a car share service,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Communauto FLEX will provide an affordable and convenient option, strengthening Calgary’s transportation network so individuals and families can get where they need to go.”

150 cars will be deployed

Starting today, an initial fleet of 150 cars will be deployed in an area covering 26 square kilometres from 50 Avenue S.W. to 21 Avenue N.W., and from 37 Street S.W. to 17 Street S.E. The launch of the service was made possible by City Council’s approval of the revised Carshare Parking Policies and Traffic Bylaw earlier this year.  “A new three-tiered pricing structure was implemented for operators who want to offer one-way carshare trips. This offers predictability and flexibility for carshare companies due to their unique operating model,” says Eric MacNaughton, Senior Transportation Engineer.

Tiered pricing for on-street parking

• Tier 1: The $450 fee per year, per car, for Tier 1 is unchanged from The City’s current policy and allows carshare operators to park vehicles in unpaid and residential permit spaces. Tier 1 does not include the downtown core.
• Tier 2: costs $840 per year, per car, includes parking in residential, unmetered and metered zones outside of the downtown core.
• Tier 3: $1440 per year, per car. Allows operators to use on-street parking in all priced areas, in residential areas and in Calgary’s downtown core.

The City will also apply a 50 per cent discount to the annual fees for fully-electric carshare vehicles, consistent with the actions in Calgary’s Climate Resilience Strategy and Electric & Low-Emission Vehicle Strategy. The policy change also allows carshare vehicles to park beyond posted time limits (for locations with a limit of 1 hour or longer).

Councillor Evan Woolley stated, “As a frequent user of car-share services, I am glad that City Council approved the policy updates and am happy to see Communauto help fill the void that exists in Calgary right now. I am hopeful these policy changes will attract more companies to the city.” 

Free-floating for short and long trips

The service, that will roll out jointly with its twin service in Edmonton, has no monthly fee and its usage costs $0.45/minute, $15/hour or $50 for one day and $35 the following days. For day trips, 100 kms are included in the trip price, and additional kms are billed at $0.20/km. Other plans are offered allowing people to use cars for $2.95/hour, plus $0.29/km, with fuel and insurance included.   

“Communauto aims to offer a real alternative to car ownership in complement to transit and active mobility. That is why we propose a tariffication adapted as well to small errands, going for grocery as for weekends or vacations. In Calgary we wish to grow a local mobility service, as we did since more than 25 years in many other communities in Canada. Today we start with a limited fleet in a certain area ready to expand the service following the demand of Calgarians,” says Benoit Robert, CEO and founder of Communauto

Exclusive use for beta-testers

In the next few weeks, interested people can pre-register or become beta-testers with the exclusive use of a car for free, until the complete fleet is available. The service will start regularly during the month of September. To register people can visit calgary.communauto.com.

This announcement is seen as a positive by other city partners. “Calgary Economic Development is excited to be working with Communauto launching in our city. Shared transportation services like Communauto are an important part of what makes Calgary a great place to live and grow a business. This carshare service will allow Calgarians to explore a new flexible and affordable mobility option to meet their needs and plans for corporate and personal travel,” said Mary Moran, President and Chief Executive Officer for Calgary Economic Development.

Once launched, Communauto will have increased sanitization measures in place. This includes the availability of sanitizing gel in the cars, the obligation to wash hands before and after using a car and disinfecting the cars on a weekly basis. Additional time up 15 minutes will be offered for free before each use to allow time to disinfect the interior of the car if desired.

See more pictures and logos

“2019 has been a great year and we are continuing on this path in 2020. Communauto is becoming more than ever the benchmark player for carsharing in Canada.” It is in these terms that the president and founder of Communauto, Benoit Robert, commented on the organization’s results in 2019 and its many projects for 2020.

CALGARY, Jan. 29, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ – Communauto, the largest carsharing organization in Canada and the first to be born in North America, welcomes the City of Calgary’s updated Carshare Parking Policies that have been approved today by their Standing Policy Committee on Transportation and Transit.

“This is a first and encouraging step towards us bringing a carsharing service back to Calgary. We are enthusiastic at the idea, and we are very impressed by the proactive approach the City of Calgary has taken to find the best solutions for the current situation” said Marco Viviani, vice-president at Communauto.

Earlier today, the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation and Transit at the City of Calgary approved an update to their carsharing policy. The new policy allows free-floating carsharing services to operate using a three-tiered fee structure. Tier 2, which costs $840 per year, per car, includes parking in residential, unmetered and metered zones areas outside of the downtown core.

“We want to provide an affordable and reliable service that focuses mainly on replacing private car usage for medium and long trips, without competing with transit, taxi or other short-range mobility services. This has been our approach for more than 25 years and the results in all the Canadian cities where we operate, including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton, are proof of its sustainability,” added M. Viviani.

Before announcing its decision to bring the service to Calgary, Communauto will wait for the final verdict about the policy changes that City Council will take in the upcoming weeks.

About Communauto

Founded in Québec City in 1994, Communauto is the largest carsharing service in Canada and the oldest in North America. Present on two continents in 14 cities (Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, London, Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, the regions of Montreal and Québec, Sherbrooke, Halifax and Paris in France) with a fleet of 3000 vehicles, it is one of the few operators offering both free-floating and station based carsharing. Communauto is a private company whose main mission is to reduce car impact on cities while improving access to mobility. Communauto established strong partnerships with public transit authorities and offers the largest electric car shared fleet in Canada in selected cities.

SOURCE COMMUNAUTO