Two car sharing companies will soon get a share of downtown Toronto parking spaces for their customers, if Toronto council approves a pilot project recommended by the city's public works and infrastructure committee.
The committee unanimously approved the pilot project that would see cars used by Zipcar and Autoshare lease 20 dedicated parking spots on six streets in the downtown area. The spots would cost just $200 per year per spot.Top executives from both companies came to Monday's committee meeting to pitch the proposal.The two companies use a membership model to offer short-term, low-cost car rentals to Toronto residents attempting to live their lives without owning a car. Rentals are typically for short runs of less than a day - with drop of points in parking lots across the city.The two said the parking spaces would make it easier for their members to use the service - which would help relieve congestion. They maintain that one shared car takes approximately 15 cars off the road."It's beneficial to improving traffic in the city," said Kevin McLaughlin, president of Autoshare. "You might consider that we fit into the same kind of niche as do taxi cabs. Having taxi stands in the city helps to regulate traffic."The committee was enthusiastic in supporting the plan after Toronto's Transportation General Manager Gary Welsh said the pilot had potential to help Toronto reach its environmental goals."This is not a new concept - it's been around for a number of years," he said. "But we're trying to get as many people out of their cars as possible and we think this helps."Some councillors not on the committee worried the two companies were getting a sweetheart deal."We're getting into an arrangement with two private companies and this didn't go through a request for proposal," said Scarborough Agincourt Councillor Mike Del Grande. "What we have here is a system only when it suits particular members. If someone else came forward saying I'd like to do that, we'd need a request for proposal."Don Valley East Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said the $200-a-spot fee was too good for the companies."An annual cost of $200 a year is less than $20 a month - that's a fantastic deal. Too good a deal."