Parking a car share vehicle could get a lot easier in Vancouver

Picking up and dropping off your car share vehicle could soon become a lot more convenient in Vancouver.

City council will consider a variety of staff recommendations next week aimed at easingparking regulations for car shares,including allowing these vehiclesto parkat city meters for free.

Right now,car share vehicles such as Car2Go and Evo can only be parked in zones reserved for residentpermit parking and resident parking which worksfine, a city report says, if drivers are parking near their homes or visiting residential areas.

It's not as convenient if a driver wants to take a carshare toa commercial area.

Car share vehiclesarenot permitted to be left curbside at a meter.

City staff are recommending allowing car share vehicles to have free stopoversat metered parking spots for up to two hours while they are rented.

The driver would not pay the parking meter but would continue to pay for the car rental.

The company would have to pay for the full cost of metered parking at these locations. The city estimates it could collect up to $250,000 in monthly fees with this proposed change.

If approved, Vancouver would join cities like Calgary, Seattle and Portland, which all allowcar share vehicles to park at meters.

Car share membership growing

According to thecity report, around 34 per cent of adults in Vancouver have a car share membership and there are more than 3,500 car share vehicleson the road.

Members' habits have changed. When car sharing first came to Vancouver in 1997, drivers were required to return the cars to the place where they picked them up.

Now, vehicles from serviceslike Car2Go and Evo can be picked up and dropped off at different locations. This is more appealing to members;the city report saysthese two companiesnow make up 80 per cent of the total car sharing fleet in Vancouver.

Other car share companies, such as Modo, require drivers to return the vehicle to the same location where they picked them up.

The report says the city wants to encourage more electric vehicles in car share fleets. To do so,one option for considerationis to allow electric and hydrogencar share vehicles to end trips at meters for a 50 per cent discount to the company.

But this option could result in lost parking revenue for the city. To mitigate the loss, city staff recommend issuing just 250 permits per company over the next five years for zero-emission one-way car shares.

The report said thesepolicies would make car-sharing more appealing to Vancouver residents, and could cut household transportation-related emissions by up to 54 per cent.

City council will discuss these options at the next meeting on July 9.