We were always a good American car owning family. My uncle was a Vice President at Ford, in charge of paint. He was hardly a devout Catholic, but in Pine Lake circles he was known as the Pope of Paint. He died last year. So now I guess he's the Saint of Paint.
He fathered a rambunctious Republican five Ford brood. Even though our branch of the family lived in Montreal, my mom always got the family discount, so my proto yuppie parents usually owned two.
I remember my uncle on a weekend he came to Montreal. Driving me around in a long white Lincoln, he literally elbowed me in the ribs and asked.
"Do you like rock music?"
"Sure, uncle J."
"Bet you can't guess who's renting our house right now for $1000 a day."
"I'm sure I can't"
"Ever heard of....The Eagles?!"
"Uh, Yes I have."
"Glenn Frey. Living in our house, right now."
"Wow. Like, aren't you worried he's going to trash the place?"
Another memory is the weekend after September 11, 2001, when against all common sense he boarded a plane to Boston to keep a reunion at my family's country place in Maine. He wasn't going to let terrorists keep him from seeing the family he only visited once a decade. Or keep him from forcing us to watch 48 hours straight of Fox News. We let him, probably because we'd just found out he had Parkinson's, and for the first time ever, he seemed vulnerable.
So, I'm sure you can imagine the enthusiasm on my Michigan cousin's face last January when I announced to him, at his sister's wedding, that I'd finally gotten my driver's license. And that I was now the proud owner of 700 Toyotas, more or less.
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Okay, co-owner. Montreal is the car sharing capitol of North America. Last I checked there were about the same number of members in my car co-op, Communauto, as there are in Open Salon, and it's growing just as fast. Because the bigger it is the better it works.
About a block away from my house, in a church parking lot that was empty four years ago, sit four Toyota Echoes, seven Yaris's and one four wheel drive Matrix. I work at home and live close to a metro station, so I don't drive everyday. But there is that half hour a week, during my son's piano lesson, where I prefer to sit in a car and listen to public radio than wander around in a nearby park, especially during winter. And there are those times when I'm transporting heavy things, or heading out to a country place. So when I need a car, here's what I do:
I get on my computer. I choose the time of my reservation: right now, a week from now, or a month from now. I choose the duration, from 30 minutes to 30 days. I choose a car from the most convenient parking lot, from around 200 spots spread throughout the city, and with a click of my mouse I book it.
When I get to the parking lot, I use my master key to unlock a lockbox which contains the keys to the individual cars. I choose the keys for my car. Then I use my member GPS key to unlock the ignition. And I'm off.
The hourly rate is currently between $2 and $2.55 an hour depending whether it's a weekday or weekend. There's a daily, or weekly rate for long distances. I pay about twenty five cents a kilometer (0.6 miles) for gas if I'm driving in the city. Half that, if I've rented it at the long distance rate. (the per/km gas rate fluctuates from time to time, for obvious reasons). There's a handy calculator on the website that will give me an idea how much my reservation and trip is going to cost, to make easier to decide whether I'd be better off with public transport or a cab.
Communauto pays insurance, repairs, registration, all that crap. My monthly bill is usually between $25 to $100. Unless I've taken a trip to Maine and then obviously it's more.
I love crossing the border in my Communauto car. They are always SO curious about the Communauto logo painted on the side. I never thought I would enjoy owning 700 cars as much as I do. But I really appreciate it in an emergency.
Like a month ago, there was some mix up with a substitute school bus driver. I found myself standing around in the cold with my son, three other kids and no other parents. It was obvious that even if the bus arrived, there was no way these kids would be making it to school on time. I flipped open my cell phone and speed dialed my friendly reservation agent. She has all my info computerized, including my favourite parking lot, which was a block away. Five minutes later we were all in a car. The kids were at school on time. Total cost, including gas: $6.
Every month I meet another neighbor who has joined. The other day, picking my son up from school so he could bring home a school project, I met another parent who noticed my Communauto car. He and his wife had just joined and sold their second car. Didn't want the trouble anymore. So, who knows, the day may come when it's the norm for families put their money into one good quality luxury car that will last (like a Lexus) and use economy car sharing for their second car needs.
It's become even more popular since Communauto teamed up with Montreal's transit commission to offer special deals to anyone who also suscribes to twelve months of bus and metro passes.
The private sector is joining in too. More and more downtown corporations are teaming up with Communauto as a way of making cars available to employees who might want to take public transit into work from the suburbs.
If Toyota is smart they'll use their experience with Communauto to spearhead this project in every major North American city. Why not? It's a win-win-win situation. It gives them great credibility with environmentalists and us creative types. It gets young drivers behind the wheel of a Toyota (since for obvious reasons this is a magnet for college students and very young professional). They drive them headache free for several years, since they never have to deal with repairs, or any of the burdens of car ownership. Life changes. They start a family. They get a raise, and they decide to buy a car. Like ducks, they will always return to that first burden free brand.
If the Saint of Paint is looking down from his country club in heaven, I wonder what he thinks of this idea. Who knows, he was always a strong believer in supply and demand economics. Maybe he's pissed that Ford didn't think of it first.
Though I suspect he's following a lot of other stories too these days.
(Hey Lexus. I know I'm a resident of Canada, which may disqualify me for this contest. But my family owns a house in Maine, which does make me a summer U.S. resident. More important to me than winning, however, is finding a way for this great idea to get some attention.)
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Comments
Actually, I'm mostly just jealous of your 700 cars. There are abortive little stabs at car sharing in my area, but they're not very useful. But then Canadians seem good at useful things. Like health care for everybody. (Although I do wonder about your french fries.)
I gotta say, this is really a Quebec/European thing. It is not this developed in the rest of Canada. And when it's not done well it sucks. It really needs a private/public sector co-operation to work. And Europeans just seem to be less wary of that.
I too loved the 'in charge of paint' line.
I think some form of car sharing on a big scale is definitely in our future, just as bicycle sharing has so quickly gained traction in European cities. I believe eventually we will need to go even further, and private ownership of automobiles will be very, very rare, just as owning your own jet or yacht is today. This is not an "elitist" thing, it's just that it won't make sense to have 9 billion people roaming around in their own private 2,000 pound vehicles.
It's a good thing your uncle worked for Ford in more modern times, or he might not have had much to do. When the first Model Ts were rolling off the assembly line, they famously were available in any color, as long as it was black. Supposedly the reason was that at the time, the only color paint that would dry quickly enough to keep the assembly line rolling was a certain type of flat black. Even that had different formulas and drying times depending on what part was painted. Of course, with the advent of quick-drying lacquers and the need to create want and desire, cars soon came in a seemingly endless array of models, styles and colors.
Thanks for a great essay on how this innovative share system can work so effectively.
I know Vancouver has this sort of things. Very dear friend of mine once belonged to it, although how successful it is, I don't know. I love the idea in theory. It's good to hear that it is working, in Montreal.
I will not divulge the name of my very good friend, though, because I breathed a sigh of relief once she decided to use public transport, instead. She was the worst driver I have ever met!
Oh, and I love your shot at Lexus. I feel the same way. Who convinced them the Internet has borders? It's like those Buffalo News weathermaps where everything is blank north of the 49th. Hello, we are alive up here and we have weather and we are your largest trading partner.
I especially love virtue when it's lightened up with a nice dash of wit. Delightful post.
p. s. As a former Detroiter, I come from a long line of loyal Ford and GM folk. Now I live way out in the sticks where, I'm ashamed to say, we have a fleet of three cars of our very own, including a Yukon that doubles as a dog kennel.
p. s. Just discovered you via your droll comment over at Kerry's post on the price of real estate going up around here. Afraid you may be right. I'm going to feel a little more self-conscious about writing comments now, knowing that the "Gray Lady" may be reading over my shoulder.
My property evaluation has gone up, in my estimate, just from having you here. I've been laughing many of your lines for a couple of weeks now. Although my mother tells my son, often for some reason, that a poll of children once revealed that "underwear" is the funniest word in the english language, (which it seems to me he would know without the poll.) So that is the word that is sticking out in my mind right now. I agree with you about Lea. No one has that fabulous a life (I hope.)
Don't feel bad about the three cars. Like I said, I come from a car fleet family, who have been absolutely aghast at my car-less-ness for years now. Plus Marin county? I don't see car sharing taking off there anytime soon....
As for the Gray lady....Can't even imagine this place a year from now, what with all the laid off journalists looking for a place to roost. I'm guessing Huff Po will become like the Detroit of journalism. If we're lucky maybe we'll be Brooklyn.
http://open.salon.com/user_blog.php?uid=15949
The car share co-op is taking off in Victoria, too (much to my relief and satisfaction).
Post rated for content, Canadian-ness, and green-focus. :)
Found this interesting ...never heard of the like .
What will THEY think of next ?
And may the pope of paint rest in peace
By "They" (Trig) I hope you're not talking about my Canadian Cylon piece a few posts back. As far as I know we have no plans for funky stealth bomber-sharing.
Did you see what you did to Lonnie ?
Cartouche...what if we put those nudie women silhouettes on the side of the cars, like they have on the back of trucks? I'll let you pitch that to Toyota...Thanks for the raiting. Hey do you think there's some way we could do a paintgun war on OS?
Stephanie. Yes you should move here...oh wait there's a problem. It's an emerald city if you speak French. Can be difficult to manouever otherwise. Sorry...
In the future we'll all be part of a Lexus co-op. At least the future I'm visualizing.