A decade of car sharing

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This article was published 16/02/2021 (1890 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It takes time to drive change.

Peg City Car Co-op started as a three-car, 40-member car sharing network in June 2011. Today, Peg City has grown its membership to over 2,000, while its fleet has grown to include 60 vehicles in 11 central neighbourhoods. 

“Car sharing, first and foremost, is an alternative to typical private vehicle ownership,” explained managing director Philip Mikulec. “It gives you access to vehicles, self-serve, 24/7, within a given network.”

Members book cars to use when they need them, and are billed for that usage in hours and kilometres driven. If a driver doesn’t book a car during a given month, for example, then they are not charged. There are options for casual users, and for members who make above average usage of vehicles, as well.

“Once people hear about us and we have cars in their neighbourhood, people get that it’s a great opportunity for people to simplify their lives and reduce their costs,” Mikulec said. “People make those calculations and it makes sense.”

Along with reducing costs associated with car-ownership, car-sharing has been shown to reduce the number of cars on the road, creating a positive impact on the environment. 

One car-sharing vehicle can replace an average of 15 cars on the road, Mikulec said.

“It doesn’t always mean that someone is getting rid of all their cars,”Mikulec added. “Many people use us as a secondary car for their family, and we have people who would have bought a car before they realized this was an option and they went with us.”

After launching in 2011, growth for Peg City was slow but steady, expanding outwards from the centre of the city.

“If you look at our 10-year trajectory, in year six or seven, we still had under 25 cars,” Mikulec said. “In the last few years, we went to 60 cars. We’re the only carsharing service in Winnipeg. As we’ve grown, there’s been greater awareness and education. That takes time.”

In 2020, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, Peg City increased its fleet by 20 vehicles. But it wasn’t easy.

“We’ve had to be nimble, as with many companies, and figure policies out as we go,” Mikulec said. 

Those policies include an increase in the frequency vehicles are visited by staff and an option for pre-booking sanitation, among others. Members can take co-op cars to COVID testing sites, but must let staff know in advance, so the vehicle can be sanitized before another members uses it. Peg City also had to find ways to cut costs, especially during the two public health ordered lockdowns.

“We’ve seen that we can mitigate most of our revenue losses just by putting cars in storage,” Mikulec said. “But as soon as demand is back up, we bring those cars back out.”

While the organization aims to have 100 vehicles on the road by the end of 2023, this year will be more about regrouping than expanding.

“For 2021, we’re taking a much more cautious approach,” Mikulec said. “We’ll only be growing by a few cars, and mostly within our current network, without expanding outward. This will give us time to re-evaluate our plan for a post-pandemic world.”

Peg City also partners with developers to add vehicles to its fleet, by creating mutually beneficial parking management plans, which include a permanent parking spot for a Peg City vehicle.

“There can be a sizable parking reduction, which leads to cost reduction, or a density bonus, whichever they choose,” Mikulec said. “The people who live in that building now have this piece of transportation infrastructure, which also reduces parking on the street or in the area.”

Developer partnerships have added 12 Peg City cars to the fleet to date, with another six to 10 in the works.

To help finance fleet expansion, Peg City has sold tax refundable investment shares. Currently, the company is aiming to raise $600,000 in investment shares. Investors can purchase shares in $100 increments, and receive a tax credit for 45 per cent through the Province of Manitoba’s Community Enterprise Development Tax Credit Program.

“That investment equity helps us grow our fleet and invest in car sharing in Winnipeg,” Mikulec said. 

For more information, visit pegcitycarcoop.ca

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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