Hamilton launches new one-way car sharing service

Canada’s oldest and largest car sharing organization, Communato, is teaming up with the City of Hamilton to launch a new one-way car sharing service here in the city.

As of June 13th, a fleet of 25 Communauto FLEX vehicles have been deployed across Wards 1, 2, and 3 and made available for spontaneous one-way trips.

So how does it work? Members can use the Communauto app on their phone to view available vehicles in the area, and block one off for use with 30 minutes allotted to reach the vehicle and begin their trip.

The City of Hamilton has launched Hamilton’s first free-floating car share service pilot program “Communauto FLEX”, which will enable ONE-WAY car share trips to become available alongside the existing round-trip service. Congrats @communautosw! Learn more: https://t.co/UJU2CeJhSv pic.twitter.com/0AbzHl3k20

— City of Hamilton (@cityofhamilton) June 13, 2022

Once in the vehicle, users can make stops, run errands, and even make trips out of town; but once the trip is finished, they simply have to park the vehicle in an on-street parking spot within the designated FLEX zone, where free-floating car share parking is permitted.

The new FLEX service is geared towards shorter, spontaneous one-way trips that can be booked on the spot, whereas Communauto’s round-trip service – for which Hamilton has 35 vehicles, on top of the 25 for the FLEX one-way service – is best for longer trips for which a vehicle would be reserved in advance.

“One of the City’s key strategic priorities is expanding transportation options to residents, and we are very pleased to do so today with the launch of the new free-floating carshare pilot program, Communauto FLEX,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

“This program gives residents more flexibility in how they get around by providing people access to a vehicle without the need to book in advance, allowing Hamiltonians to choose the most appropriate method of transport for their trip. Thank you to our Sustainable Mobility team and our partners at Communauto for bringing this program to life.”

Read the full release here.

Lead image courtesy of @cityofhamilton

Share post

Tags

• car
• car sharing
• city
• Communauto
• driving
• Hamilton
• HamOnt
• Transportation
• vehicle