View source for Modo


= member-owned [[Carsharing]] in Vancouver, Canada area and beyond

URL = http://modo.coop/

=Description=

'''1.'''

"Modo provides convenient, reliable and affordable access to the most diverse fleet of shared vehicles across the Lower Mainland and Victoria. Simply put, with Modo, you get all the benefits of having a car, without all the hassles of owning one (or two).

For only $8/hour – including gas, insurance, maintenance, bridge tolls, and parking privileges – you can drive what you want, when you want. Choose from over 450 sports cars, sedans, trucks, SUVs, vans and hybrids – all at the same great rate, any day or time. Whether you’re out on a date or off to the dentist, Modo’s two-way service allows you to book a year in advance or on the fly.

With all this – and local 24/7 member service – it’s no wonder that 15,000 members, 400 business, 100 building developers and several local municipalities use Modo.

Modo is your locally owned member co-op, driven by people, not profits — how cool is that?"
(http://modo.coop/about/#tile-about-modo)


'''2. John Restakis, on cooperative car-sharing in Vancouver, Canada:'''


"Since the creation of the Co-operative Auto Network (C.A.N.) from a student project at SFU fifteen years ago, car sharing has become one of Vancouver’s most influential exports for the promotion of sustainable car use across Canada. Pioneered in Europe, car sharing was enthusiastically adopted by Vancouverites and with the early support of other co-ops like CCEC Credit Union, Vancity and The Co-operators; C.A.N. became the world’s first English-speaking car share organization with a starting fleet of two cars and 16 members.
 
Today, the Co-operative Auto Network has been renamed Modo – the car co-op, and with a fleet of nearly 250 vehicles and 7, 400 members the co-op is a North American leader in this vibrant new transport sector. Modo is recognized not only for the scale and innovation of its operations in Vancouver, but as a skilled champion of car sharing and a mentor and resource to groups wishing to start car sharing in their own cities. The co-op has been an invaluable resource for the organization of every one of the ten car share co-ops now operating across the country. This includes carsharing organizations in Victoria, Cowichan, Nanaimo, the Kootenays, Smithers, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Guelph, and Grand River. And now that the model for car sharing has been established by the co-ops, private for-profit businesses like Zipcar are also entering the market extending even further the use of shared transport.

But Modo’s leadership as a car share organization has extended far beyond Canada. The co-op has been pro-active in helping to foster carsharing on 4 continents: North America (various CSOs in Canada + US), Australia, Asia (Japan, Korea, Singapore), Europe [UK mainly], as well as providing information and expertise to Sao Paulo, Brasil's Zazcar in South America. Modo is a founding member of the newly formed CarSharing Association - and adheres to its Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. 

The City of Vancouver recognized early the potential of car sharing as a strategy for reducing car use and thus a key ingredient in any sustainability plan. The use of cars for individual use is a major source of the greenhouse gases emitted by cities. By contrast, carsharing has been shown to reduce the production of greenhouse gases by a volume of 1.5 tonnes for every car sharer. And for every carsharing vehicle, an additional 20-30 vehicles are taken off the road. 

The benefits of carsharing for advancing sustainability and quality of life goals to cities are substantial. This is in addition to the billions that can be saved in transportation costs borne by cities for the construction and maintenance of roads, highways and parking that come at the expense of expanding shared forms of public transit and the reclaiming of public land for something better than the storage of private vehicles.


Some examples of the close working relationship that grew up between the City of Vancouver and the car co-op include:

•	The support of car sharing by the City through the provision of a parking spot at City Hall for the first co-op vehicles in 1998 and the provision of residential parking permits to the co-op.

•	Modo partnered with the City on the creation of a bylaw giving developers the option to purchase vehicles and provide parking for carsharing thereby reducing their minimum parking requirements (and building costs). The bylaw came into effect in June 2005 and was updated, with lots of help from Modo, in June 2009. 

•	Modo lobbied the City of Vancouver for 7 years and won designated on-street parking (no parking except Modo) for carsharing. Since 2010 there are 16 designated on-street parking spots.

•	Modo currently has a contract to provide the City of Vancouver with carsharing services through 2012. This includes carsharing by City employees with co-op vehicles and the managing of carsharing for some of the City owned fleet as well.

•	Modo continues to contribute to City of Vancouver planning - especially around Greenest City initiatives. These include supporting cycling initiatives and being on the Transportation 2040 Stakeholder Advisory Group. Modo and the City continue to work together on future initiatives such as electric vehicles + their infrastructure (charging stations).

In many ways, the relationship that has evolved between Modo and the City of Vancouver exemplifies the kinds of mutual benefit that arise when citizens are supported by their municipality in the pursuit of progressive initiatives that rely on local innovation and co-operation. The car co-op in Vancouver was the start of a whole new movement to rethink the paradigm of individual car ownership in Canada. The City of Vancouver deserves credit for recognizing the vision that lay at the heart of a project that is now one of the City’s most influential exports in support of the sustainability movement."

Source: [[City of Vancouver as Cooperative City‎‎]]

=More Information=

* [[Platform Cooperatives]]


[[Category:Platform Cooperatives]]

[[Category:Cooperatives]]

[[Category:Sharing]]

[[Category:Canada]]

[[Category:Transportation]]