Press Release - Page 3 of 3 - Communauto Québec

Montreal, April 15, 2024 – Communauto, the leader in carsharing in Canada, and the City of Montreal announce a significant expansion of the service for 2024 to meet the growing demand observed throughout Montreal. Among the new developments, we would like to highlight the addition of more than 1,100 cars across Montreal, the development of station zones, which were very successful last year, as well as the arrival of Communauto in the Lachine borough, thanks to the addition of a brand new FLEX zone.

Fleet expansion and growing adoption

In 2023, Communauto had already expanded its fleet in Montreal by adding 900 vehicles. This brought the number of vehicles in Montreal to 3,700. These additions allowed 14% of Montreal households to use Communauto services, an increase of 22% compared to the previous year. These households made 2.9 million reservations, traveling 95 million kilometers.

In 2024, to meet growing demand, Communauto will gradually add, over the course of the year, 1,100 new cars, including 900 in stations and 200 in the FLEX service.

Expansion of the FLEX service: new areas served

Communauto’s FLEX service will now be available in Lachine, following approval from the borough council. In addition, other sectors of Montreal, such as Rivière-des-Prairies and the Bois-Franc sector, in Saint-Laurent, will benefit from the expansion of the FLEX service, in addition to the round-trip station service.

Among the more than 50 new “fixed” stations that will be added in 2024, some will be deployed in sectors previously less well served, such as Dorval, Cartierville, Montréal-Nord, Rivière-des-Prairies and Bois-Franc.

Continuation of the station zones project in collaboration with the City of Montreal

In partnership with the City of Montreal, Communauto is renewing its station zone project in 2024, with 500 cars associated to around 100 station zones, spread across 10 boroughs. This initiative has proven to be a great success in 2023, offering users increased flexibility in their travel, while integrating harmoniously with existing parking rules. This innovative concept responds to the real needs of users by offering vehicles according to demand, in an identified area, but without being limited by parking constraints. It thus makes it possible to make 500 cars available, which would have been impossible otherwise.

Fleet diversity and continuous improvement

The new cars, which will be gradually introduced throughout 2024, will include 85 electric cars and 70 minivans, providing more choice and comfort to users. In addition, towards the end of the year, 400 vehicles will be withdrawn and replaced with newer and more efficient models, to guarantee the quality and reliability of the service.

Communauto thus continues to play an essential role in promoting sustainable mobility and carsharing in Montreal, offering practical and ecological solutions for urban travel.

“Communauto is a leading partner in reducing the number of cars on our roads, considering that each carshare car replaces between 7 and 11 vehicles. We are very proud to offer Montrealers additional, fast and efficient transportation options. Today we are also fulfilling our commitment to offer more carshare stations in Montreal. The arrival of Communauto FLEX in Lachine confirms our determination to continue to offer more and more mobility options to the four corners of the island.”
– Valérie Plante, mayor of Montreal.

“The enthusiasm of Montrealers for Communauto is felt more than ever! To meet growing demand, we are proud to support, once again this year, the remarkable expansion of the service offered by Communauto. I am particularly delighted with the addition of 1,100 new cars, which will soon be plying the city’s streets, and the return of the station zones, which will offer even more shared vehicles to meet the needs of users. The City of Montreal is a leading player in the development of carsharing, and we are pleased that this expansion contributes to diversifying the mobility options offered to citizens, to reducing the use of solo cars, to decongest our roads and decarbonize our transportation, while improving the quality of life of Montrealers. ”
– Sophie Mauzerolle, responsible for transport and mobility on the executive committee of the City of Montreal

“While the demand for carsharing and more sustainable mobility is growing exponentially, Communauto is firmly committed to responding to this call, thus playing a crucial role in the demotorization of households. We are delighted to be able to count on the support of the City of Montreal. Without this support, it would be impossible for us to play our role effectively. By joining forces, we aim to offer greener and more convenient transportation solutions, helping to shape a more sustainable future for our city and its residents.”
– Benoît Robert, president and founder of Communauto.

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About Communauto

Founded in Quebec in 1994, Communauto is the largest carsharing service in Canada and the oldest in America. Present on two continents in 19 cities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax and Paris, it operates round-trip and free-floating services. With almost 6,000 cars, Communauto has the largest fleet of shared electric vehicles in Canada and among the largest in America. As a company with a social, environmental and urbanistic vocation, its mission is to reduce the impact of the car on cities while improving access to mobility, by offering an alternative to the private car.

Information:
Marco Viviani,
Vice-président, développement stratégique,
Communauto,
drp@communauto.ca

Montreal, March 24, 2022. Communauto, the largest carsharing service in Canada and the oldest in North America, is planning substantial growth in its vehicle fleet after an exceptional 30% increase in the number of members and overall usage of the service in 2021.

To meet this demand in 2022, Communauto has ordered 1,300 new vehicles from manufacturers to add to the service before summer, despite car industry supply issues which could last until 2023.

The largest increase in the fleet will be in Montreal, where 800 vehicles will be added (200 in stations and 600 for the FLEX service). In total, more than 3,000 vehicles will be available to Montrealers by the end of the summer.

“Communauto is responding to the significant growth in demand we saw in 2021 by planning a major increase to our service. This growing demand demonstrates the importance of carsharing as an urban mobility solution that is more sustainable and efficient than the personal car. It also opens the door to major challenges: first, the difficulty of the automotive industry to guarantee the number of cars ready to deliver and second, the significant delays between orders and deliveries. We experienced this in 2021 and we fear that it could also affect the supply this year, despite our efforts. One thing is certain, Communauto has the capacity and the commitment to guarantee the availability of our service and to meet the growing needs of citizens who wish to adopt carsharing, in combination with other public transit and active mobility options,” states Benoit Robert, president and founder of Communauto.

“The City of Montreal welcomes the expansion of the Communauto fleet with great enthusiasm. Our administration has done more for shared mobility than any other. From the start, we have resolutely positioned ourselves as an essential partner, always with a view to offering more mobility options to Montrealers, and to decongest the city. Driven by this desire, we have made several important regulatory changes to promote carsharing and self-service vehicles in recent years, and we intend to continue on this path, in collaboration with the boroughs, in order to allow an equitable distribution of the service throughout the city,” added Sophie Mauzerolle, member responsible for transportation and mobility on the executive committee of the City of Montreal.

In Quebec City, Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton and Paris

In Quebec City, there will be more than 300 cars available with the addition of approximately 45 cars, including 15 for the FLEX service (+25%).

Toronto will not be outdone, as the company is also planning a significant increase to its fleet, with 250 new vehicles (+60%). Similarly, 200 vehicles will go to Halifax, Ottawa, southwestern Ontario, Paris, Edmonton and Calgary, where the supply of reservation-based station vehicles continues to grow alongside the supply of FLEX cars.

In 2022, Communauto will expand to Hamilton, Ontario, where the FLEX service will soon be available. As a reminder, this service allows you to use Communauto vehicles on demand and without prior reservation. The FLEX service, introduced in 2013, has already won over the cities of Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, Edmonton, Toronto and Calgary.

More electric cars

As for electrification, Communauto has ordered 100 new electric cars, which would be additions and replacements for some of the 110 fully electric units currently in service. Unfortunately, less than half of this order, Niro EVs, has been fulfilled thus far by the manufacturers: a striking example of how vehicle shortages present a challenge to achieving growth objectives. The same applies to hybrid vehicles, available only in small quantities, requiring us to return to gasoline models.

More spacious cars

In 2022, Communauto is also continuing to diversify its fleet by adding more spacious cars to the station-based service in order to meet the needs of families and long-distance trips. For example, the Niro Hybrid model will be added to stations with the Kona and Tucson models. The latter will be available at a price surcharge of 10%. Corollas, which are already available by reservation in stations, will also be added to the FLEX service.

The recent spike in gasoline prices is likely to further boost demand for carsharing. “The best way to cope with the rising cost of gas is more cycling, walking and public transit – and supplementing with carsharing,” adds Benoit Robert.