A car sharing operation has expanded into Canada and is now offering drivers an alternative to owning their own vehicles.
Daimler’s car2go launched in Calgary on July 21 and the little blue and white vehicles can be found on street corners around the city.
The concept was developed four years ago at Daimler’s Stuttgart, Germany facility and each car2go city in North America has a network of several hundred fuel-efficient smart fortwo cars.
The cars are available for members to use 24 hours a day, seven days a week and users pay by the minute for the actual time they use the car.
Members are issued a special card that they hold up to a reader on the windshield to unlock the vehicle.
The driver then enters a PIN into the touch screen and gains access to the ignition key by completing a questionnaire about the cars condition and confirming that it is not damaged.
Users can pick up and drop off the car anywhere within the car2go Home Area and do not need to drive it back to its original location.
The credit card that the member used to register is then charged for the time used and an invoice will be logged to the users member profile.
Membership fees also cover things like gas, parking, insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance and GPS navigation.
To register for the service and for more information, visit the car2go website.
CarShare is another service that provides rental opportunities for people who don’t want to own their own car.
The company has vehicles sprinkled throughout the inner city for people to share by the hour, half day and full day.
To register for the service and for more information, visit the Calgary CarShare website.
