Car Co-op is moving into Elmwood

Elmwood

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This article was published 22/05/2024 (514 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Peg City Car Co-op is expanding into the Elmwood area. The carsharing co-op provides members with time-limited car access for varying fees based on duration and plan. Some Elmwood residents are already using the service.

Emma Durand-Wood is an Elmwood resident whose family has been a member of Peg City for three years.

“When we joined the co-op, it was half on practicality and half on principle,” she said.

She was very interested in living without owning a car and demonstrating the need for its services. Prior to joining, she used a conventional car rental service but noticed disruption during the pandemic and switched to the co-op.

Durand-Wood said the nearest Car Co-op vehicle locations are 25-minutes’ walk or one bus trip away from home. While that’s not a big deal for all-day uses, when it comes to half-hour trips the time spent getting to pickup spots is inconvenient. Spots in Elmwood will be a “game-changer,” Durand-Wood said.

The Co-op network is anchored through what it calls ‘Fix stations’. These are parking spots at which members can access specific vehicles based on advanced bookings, with predetermined pickup times and return times. The co-op has obtained two parking spaces in Elmwood near Henderson Highway and will have vehicles placed in the spots soon, according to Peg City Car Co-op spokesperson Michelle Panting.

“Right now, our existing service area is pretty centrally located, and we expand out slowly from there” Panting said.

Because Elmwood is just outside Peg City existing service area, it made sense to expand the network to the area.

In addition, the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation is considering an organizational membership with Peg City Car Co-op, according to CNRC executive director Leilani Esteban Villarba.

“I know of four or five other households that are planning to get memberships, “Durand-Wood said. “There’s starting to be more awareness of how much it costs to own a vehicle… I think it’s going to keep growing in popularity.”