CALGARY -- Ahead of car2go’s expected Halloween departure, officials with the City of Calgary will meet with the company to try to encourage the car share business to stay.
On Friday, car2go made the surprise announcement to pull out of Calgary, Denver, Portland, Austin and Chicago. The service will remain in Vancouver, Montreal, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
“I have been in touch with officials with car2go. They are willing to sit down this week and have discussions,” said Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley.
Woolley had planned to bring an emergency motion about car2go to Monday’s council meeting, but administration advised a formal motion wasn’t necessary to set up a meeting.
City officials plan to ask the company why it plans to exit Calgary and if any regulatory changes can be made to allow the service to stay.
“If car2go leaves Calgary, what are the impacts of that? What does it mean for our transit network, what does it mean for Ubers and Taxis?” Woolley added.
A decision about regulatory changes or incentives for the company to stay, if any, will have to come back to council for final approval.
One suggestion could be to explore how much Calgary is charging car2go for parking in the city.
“It all comes down to math,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “If we believe that other people will park in those spots and pay the same amount, then we ought not to be offering subsidies to some people versus other people.”
Car2go plans to leave the Calgary market on October 31st.
