Communauto is the First Car-Sharing Service to Join Toronto’s Pilot Program
Communauto, a Montreal car-sharing company, is the first to receive a permit to launch a free-floating car-share service as a part of the City of Toronto’s pilot program. The company’s FLEX service will launch in November 2018 and be available in the city’s downtown core, with 200 cars covering a 50 square kilometre area.
“As a Canadian company, we’re proud to be the first to bring a free-floating car service to Toronto under this pilot. Our FLEX service will make car-sharing easy and affordable for city residents, and our goal is to work together with Toronto’s existing transit options to provide better solutions to mobility issues,” says Benoit Robert, president of Communauto.
“Car-sharing offers a number of social and environmental benefits to individuals and businesses, and we’re looking forward to working with the city, our users and other community partners to create a thriving mobility solution.”
Toronto’s free-floating car-share pilot was approved in April 2018 and enables users to participate in one-way car-sharing. Members of Communauto FLEX will be able to pick up and drop off cars at legal residential parking spaces across Toronto, instead of being limited to specific parking lots.
If the project is approved after the 18-month pilot, Communauto plans to expand operations to include more than 500 cars across 100 square kilometres. The service is a pay-as-you-go model, meaning that members can join for free, with no monthly fees, and have a flexible method of transportation within the city.
“Car-sharing technologies have the power to change how people go about their day-to-day lives and get around this city. I’ve encouraged the introduction of these new technologies and believe that there can be many benefits, including potentially reducing traffic and congestion by removing cars from the road,” said Mayor of Toronto, John Tory. “I’m proud we’ve worked to strike a balance between the benefits of car-sharing and the potential impacts it could have on neighbourhoods. I’m thrilled that the team at Communauto is among the first to join the pilot and operate here within these new regulations.”
