Calgarians now have the opportunity to rent their vehicle to a driver in need, or rent a vehicle from another owner, with the introduction of a peer-to-peer car sharing service.
Turo, previously known at RelayRides, has been operating in the Calgary area since April.
Vehicle owners sign up to offer their ride. Once a client books a rental, the vehicle’s owner receives 75 per cent of the rental cost while Turo takes 25 per cent of the fare. The minimum length of a rental is one day
According to Turo representatives, the cost of renting through Turo is normally much cheaper than conventional car rental agencies.
“They don’t have to have big parking lots,” said Cedric Mathieu, Turo’s Canadian director. “They don’t have to have employees to manage their cars. They don’t have to have huge fleets of cars.”
Turo drivers are covered through Intact or Belair-Direct Insurance and Turo will cover the liability for accidents with damage of up to $2 million.
Ryan McCourt is a geologist who found himself out-of-work during the recent economic downturn. Without income, McCourt faced tough decisions on what to do with his Chevrolet Camaro.
“I still have payments on my car so I was looking for a way,” explained McCourt. “I was going to sell the car and that’s when I heard Turo was coming to Canada.”
McCourt says he was initially apprehensive about handing his keys over.
“I was a little nervous about it at first,” said McCourt. “You know you’re giving your car to strangers so you’ve gotta build some trust up.”
“After that first experience, it was great!”
Professor Debi Andrus of the Haskayne School of Business says ridesharing services are proving their viability while attracting customers in a much sought after demographic with unique motivations.
“They tend to be 18 to 24,” said Andrus. “Of course they’re plugged into the networks. They have lower income, believe it or not, the people that consume it.”
“People want the freedom to be driving a car, you still have to know how to drive, but they don't want to own it."
Andrus believes the conventional taxi and transit industries will need to adapt to compete with the influx of companies over ridesharing.
Turo currently operates in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario. The company was founded in the United States in 2009.
With files from CTV's Rahim Ladhani
