Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Bula Sia Everyone!

I’m still struggling with getting my laptop to work properly and getting ADSL to my little island cabin is happening very much on island time… (we only have one cop and one telephone technician…) Both will happen soon I hope, as I have more blogs and pics to post.

CO-OPERATIVE CAR SHARING:

I saw an ad for a new condo building in Vancouver today, and was pleased to see that you could save $85,000 on the cost of an “open 1 bedroom” if you opted for membership in a car sharing program over a parking space. YES.

So, I went to the website – www.999seymour.com – and clicked through the tiny apartments to the car sharing.

The Co-Operative Auto Network (CAN) not only gives you easy access to vehicles when you need them, it has serious choices. Cars, allergy free cars (guess you can’t take your dog in those), Hybrid, hybrid with bike rack, mini-van, mini-van with kid car seats, trucks for moving. Amazing.

http://www.cooperativeauto.net/

Also, there are perks to being a part of the network – group health/dental coverage (not available to many self-employed people), gym membership discounts, discounts on monthly public transit passes…very pregressive, very community oreiented.

If an $85 000 dent in your mortgage isn’t enough, car sharing is also providing an incentive to, and saving big bucks for, housing developers:

“In June 2005, the City of Vancouver introduced a by-law enabling Developers to reduce the ratio of parking required in Multi-residential applications where car sharing is a featured amenity to the building. The by-law currently allows for a reduction of three parking spaces for every co-operative car (and associated parking stall) the Developer provides. Similar opportunities exist in many other municipalities in the Lower Mainland as planners allow the same provisions without an enacted by-law.”

AND There is a corporate co-op, for business owners using car sharing: http://www.thecompanycar.ca/

I’m impressed. We can do this anywhere. It is simply about shifting our mindsets.

“Eco-density” has been the environmental catch phrase I’ve heard most in the last 6 weeks, and Vancouver being ahead in terms of enviornmental initives, things happening here generally predict how other cities will look to change.

If the new 2.4 cents per litre “carbon tax” being added to our gas (petrol) and propane prices come July 1st is anything to go by, we’ll all be looking to only use gas powered vehicles as needed rather than taking them for granted.

This particular car co-op is a great model for other entrepreneurs to draw upon to create similar co-op networks around the world.

I’m excited. Car sharing is the new old way coming back again. Yeah!

naka na read and thoughts,

Carol