I have blogged a couple of times about car share programs, including the one in Montreal called Communauto which was used by our son and daughter-in-law while they lived there. Instead of owning a vehicle which they would have to maintain, insure, and park, they subscribed to the service and paid by the hour for the use of a car which was handily kept just down the hill from where they lived. It seems like a perfect solution in a big city, especially for those who aren't into the stage of ferrying children around in every spare moment.
On our drive back from Quebec on Tuesday we heard an interview with the Benoit Robert, the founder of Communauto. To our surprise we discovered that all other car share programs in North America followed on this one, as well as the Paris program. It began in 1994 with three cars and a handful of subscribers. Today there are about 25,000 subscribers in four Quebec cities and Ottawa, sharing 1300 vehicles. Robert cheerfully admitted that while he now makes a decent living, he didn't for the first years as Communauto got rolling, so to speak. He started out studying the possibilities when he was a student and became so convinced it could work that he just jumped in.
He pointed out that we use our cars about ten percent of the time, yet we have lots of money tied up in them. Most of the cars they use are eco-friendly and serve a need. He figures that Communauto is part of what he calls a transportation cocktail, along with taxis and car rentals. What's not to like?
As I have pointed out before, according to the gospels Jesus and the gang hoofed it everywhere, other than brief stints in boats with sailsand oars, and on the back of a donkey. Talk about eco-friendly.
Does anyone else admire a guy like Robert for doing something rather than just thinking about it? Are you overly dependent on your vehicle? Do you wish you could car share or is that just not practical for you? What about public transportation?
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