Victoria Car Share Co-op's vehicles are strategically placed throughout the region. Pictured here is a secure key drop box attached to all vehicles. Photo © by Victoria Car Share Co-op.

Operating out of a cozy third-floor office in downtown Victoria, the Victoria Car Share Co-op presents a modest face, yet it has has seen steady, and recently bumper growth, since its inception in 1997. And that’s in spite of the fact that it operates on a nearly non-existent marketing budget.

Membership now stands at over 400, nearly double the members in 2008. The core demographic is 25- to 35-year-olds, living in the urban core, who do not own a vehicle.

Volunteer board member Tom McNamara thinks that the toughest part of increasing membership is attracting co-op members outside of that profile. The co-op is hoping to draw on his marketing background to help with ideas to get the word out.

Victoria Car Share’s stated vision is to “engage members, residents, businesses, organizations and local governments to maximize the positive impact of car sharing …and become a recognized leader in the North American car sharing community.”  Put more directly, coordinator Keane Gruending says that the goal is to see everyone that suits the car-sharing lifestyle to be a member, and indeed he thinks there is “no reason it can’t have a membership roster ten times its current size.”

Members put up an initial deposit or equity share purchase (refunded when they leave the co-op), and then pay a small monthly fee plus costs for time and mileage on the vehicle when it is used. Twenty cars are strategically placed throughout the core. Every member can reserve any vehicle over the phone, or online, and each has a key to a lock box on the vehicle containing ignition and access keys. Members complete a log-book in the car’s glove compartment after each trip. Because members have share equity, and essentially own the cars themselves, McNamara and Keane agree that the vehicles are treated very well and that there has not been a problems with vandalism to vehicles while unattended.

The co-op has a reciprocal agreement with other car-shares in BC, including the Cooperative Auto Network in Vancouver that boasts a membership of over 8000 and a fleet of 260 vehicles. In other words, if a Victoria member travels to Vancouver as a foot passenger on a BC Ferries vessel, he or she can pick up a car in Vancouver for longer excursions around the Lower Mainland. While Keane says that feature in itself is an attractive membership perk, it isn’t used as often as it could be.

The list of vehicles includes fuel efficient sedans like a Honda Insight, a Toyota Prius, Nissan Sentra and even a Smart Fortwo convertible.  Larger vehicles include a Dodge Ram pick-up truck and two models of minivans.  The cost to sign up is $400 for a two-driver account, plus $15 billed monthly.  Vehicle use costs include an hourly use charge, a kilometer charge and taxes.

For more information on the Victoria Car Share Co-op, visit the official website here.  To discuss the Car Share on the VibrantVictoria.ca discussion forum, click here.

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