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Consumer Debt up 8% in MB, Arguments for Carsharing

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Manitoba Consumer debt (which includes vehicle debts, but excludes mortgages) is up 8% according to credit monitor TransUnion. This means Manitobans are spending more than they make.

Owning and operating a car in Canada costs an average of $8,000 per year according to CAA. In order to own a car, a budget of around $700 is required every month to pay for loan payments, gas, insurance and maintenance expenses. Some households even have more than one car.

On average, carshare members pay 14% (less than $100) of that per month – and they don’t pay for the carshare when they don’t use it (unlike a car).

Choosing to live close to work or school, using alternate modes for regular transportation and being able to keep costs stable (as member Shauna argues in her Member Profile) are all ways to keep your debts low, Manitoba!

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Are You Ready to Invest in Less?

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Peg City Car Co-op started as but a small idea four years ago. A group of volunteers sat down together and made a list of what transportation could look like in Winnipeg. Their vision revolved around the idea of less congestion, fewer cars, less parking pressure, and less pollution. But that concept of less was in fact a vision for more. More opportunities for biking, busing, walking and most importantly a city with enough transportation choices to live car-free or car-light. They understood that there is more than one way to move around a city.

Since launching in June 2011, we’ve expanded our membership and our fleet. We now have 4 vehicles, in 3 different neighbourhoods and we have over 100 members. We have received more positive feedback than we could have ever expected and we are so grateful for the overwhelming support we have received so far.

But there is more work to do.

We want to serve neighbourhoods outside of Osborne Village and South Osborne. We are looking to Corydon, Broadway-Assiniboine, West Broadway, Wolseley, the West End, Downtown, and the Exchange District. We want to build a dense-enough carsharing network that for every member, there are at least 2 cars within a 10 minute walk.

Here is where you come in:
Over the next 2 years we would like to expand into new neighbourhoods and have 11 vehicles that serve the transportation needs of 350 members.

You can help get us there

Peg City now has investment shares available for purchase! If you would like to see carsharing grow in Winnipeg, and help us reach our expansion goals, this will make it happen. We have been approved as an eligible enterprise under the Province of Manitoba’s Community Enterprise Development (CED) Tax Credit Program. What does this mean, you ask? Well it means that come tax time, you will be eligible to claim a tax credit of 30% of the amount of your investment. This is an opportunity to do good for your community (while getting something in return). How great is that?

Visit www.pegcitycarcoop.ca/invest and check out our investment meter on the sidebar over the next few months to keep up to date on our progress!

For a related post, check out Carsharing and the Local Economy from earlier this year.

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Peg City Car Co-op goes electric!

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Partners with IBEX Payroll to introduce EV into fleet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 28, 2012 (Winnipeg)–Driving an electric vehicle (EV) is now an option for more Winnipeggers without the hefty price tag of purchasing one. This morning, Peg City Car Co-op and IBEX Payroll announced their partnership to introduce a 2012 Chevrolet Volt into the car co-op’s existing fleet of fuel efficient cars.

Says Melissa Dupuis, vice-president of the board for Peg City Car Co-op, “We are thrilled with our partnership with IBEX Payroll. It allows Peg City Car Co-op to showcase the benefits of electric vehicles on a day-to-day basis, while providing our members with the latest in environmental technology.”

The Volt is owned by IBEX Payroll but registered and insured by Peg City Car Co-op as one of its fleet vehicles. The EV and its charging station are located at IBEX Payroll’s office building at 421 Mulvey Ave East, just south of the Osborne Underpass near the Rapid Transit station. Other business tenants in the building are automatically eligible to become members of Peg City Car Co-op as part of the partnership.

Says Darryl Stewart, CEO and owner of IBEX Payroll, “We are personally and corporately keen to see more sustainable transportation options available for Winnipeggers. Our partnership with Peg City Car Co-op is a way to allow more people to become familiar with electric vehicles and experience them first-hand.”

The world’s first electric vehicle with extended range, the 2012 Chevrolet Volt can travel up to 80 km on pure electric power stored in onboard batteries with additional travel covered by electricity generated through a four cylinder motor. This distance is a perfect fit for Peg City Car Co-op members, who average 20-25 km on a given trip, while ensuring they will not be limited by distance.

About Peg City Car Co-op:

Launched in June 2011, Peg City Car Co-op pioneered carsharing in Winnipeg. Peg City provides affordable, convenient access to shared vehicles on an hourly basis without the hassles and expense of individual car ownership. It can allow families the flexibility to avoid purchasing a second household vehicle and businesses a cost effective option for employee travel. Peg City Car Co-op is committed to making it easy and affordable for Winnipeggers to “Bike. Walk. Bus. And Sometimes, Drive.” Now our members can “Sometimes, Drive Electric.” Learn more at: PegCityCarCoop.ca

For interviews or media requests to test ride Peg City Car Co-op’s EV, please contact:

Aaron Russin |  Member Service Coordinator, Peg City Car Co-op
T: (204) 793-3912 / [email protected]

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Sometimes, Drive Electric

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We’re ecstatic about sharing this plug-in Electric with our membership. Please join us as we officially welcome the newest addition to our fleet on Tuesday, August 28th 2012 at 11am. This vehicle is located at the IBEX Business Centre, 421 Mulvey Ave East – right next to the Osborne Rapid Transit Station, south of confusion corner through the underpass. The welcome should only take 15 to 20 minutes or so, and afterward I’ll be available to answer any questions you may have and take you for a spin!

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DMSMCA & Peg City Car Co-op in the Metro

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Check out this great article on our West End Carsharing Study in the Canstar Neighbourhood papers today! If you still haven’t filled out our survey, please visit www.pegcitycarcoop.ca/DMSMCAsurvey or call 204.793.3912!

Car-sharing is designed to give members who regularly bus, cycle or walk occasional use of a vehicle without the high fixed costs of ownership. The concept is thriving across the country in high-density urban centres such as Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton and Waterloo.

The DMSMCA first looked into the concept about three years ago, as part of its five-year neighbourhood green plan, Webb said.

Consultations for that plan found many in the community were paying for cars that we’re being underused.

According to CAA, average annual ownership costs for a small sedan like a Honda Civic is about $7,500 per year.

That’s a lot of money in a community with a large number of low-income families, which the DMSMCA hopes to target with the program.

“Low income families can save a lot of money sharing a car and using it less frequently,” Webb said.

Some community non-profit organizations, including the West Central Women’s Resource Centre, have also expressed interest in the program, Webb added.

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Winnipeg hosts Federation of Canadian Carsharing Co-operatives

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We’re still winding down from our amazing Annual General Meeting last week, but are ecstatic about the end of March when we’ll be joined from east to west by fellow co-operatives in the industry.

The Federation, made up of carshare co-ops from Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Nelson, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg (us!), and Kitchener-Waterloo/Hamilton, will meet to discuss everything from operations, technology and shared ventures to industry challenges. Also joining us for part of the conference will be representatives from several City of Winnipeg departments and our keynote speaker, Kevin McLaughlin, President & Founder of AutoShare in Toronto.

With 2012 marked as the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives, the conference exemplifies the sixth co-operative principle of co-ops supporting other co-ops. The participating carshares range from the well-established, such as Modo The Car Co-op in Vancouver, which is celebrating its 15th year of operation with over 10,000 members and hundreds of cars, to new carshare co-ops in the process of organizing, such as Kelowna.

Download our full press release here.

We have benefited so much from the diversity and wealthy knowledge base of this community of co-operatives, and are pleased as relative newcomers to be hosting this year’s conference.

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South Osborne Information Sessions – We’re in the Sou’wester!

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photo: Simon Fuller via Canstar

A reminder that we have two information sessions on carsharing in Winnipeg coming up.  Although they are meant for the South Osbrone neighbourhood, they are of course open to anyone who’s interested!

  • Thursday, February 16th from 5:30 – 8:30pm
    at the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre
    625 Osborne St.
  • Thursday, February 23rd from 6:30 – 9:00pm
    at Riverview Community Centre
    90 Ashland Ave

It was also nice to wake up to a story in Canstar’s Sou’wester community newspaper  featuring one of our first members Jane Stewart who lives in South Osborne.

Jane Stewart — member number 20 — uses the car once a week on average.

“The system is great. I go to a woodcarving club and we meet in Transcona, so there’s no quick and easy route there, so it’s really convenient to drive out there after work,” said Stewart, who lives in Riverview.

“I’ll also spend more time in Osborne Village, so I’m actually more socially-engaged with the neighbourhood.”

Check out the full story on the Winnipeg Free Press’ Canstar Community News site. Come on out to one of our events!

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Videos: Dave on Sharing

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The final member profile in our series – we’re sad to see it end! Thanks to Christopher Paetkau and Trevor Gill who made this project so exceptional – we’ve been so happy with them. Their dedication, hard creative work and willingness to be so open to direction made them an absolute pleasure to work with. Thanks also to our members who donated their time and energy (not all of you made the final cut!) for such lovely interviews.

DAVE on SHARING : Peg City Car Co-op from Peg City Car Co-op on Vimeo.

Dave doesn’t need pay to own a car for 30 days of the month just to pick up a few gallons of paint.

It’s a cost benefit analysis. The social cost of personal ownership – the time and energy invested in the production, purchase and maintenance of a vehicle – forces one to re-consider how useful it is for an individual to own one.

Dave’s answer is to share. He only pays for a car when he needs to use it and effectively spreads the costs of owning a vehicle over the wider membership in the co-operative. It’s a different kind of ownership – instead of “my” car, it’s “our” car.

For more information about Co-ops, including how 2012 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of the Co-op, visit the Share Alike section on our About page.

Thanks to Assiniboine Credit Union for making this possible!

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Videos: Shauna on Cost

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The third of our Member Profiles features Shauna talking about the true costs of vehicle ownership.

SHAUNA on COST: Peg City Car Co-op from Peg City Car Co-op on Vimeo.

Shauna’s home is a mess – and it’s all because of the carshare.

She and her family were able to save for a down payment on a new house because they don’t own a car. They moved in a few months ago and are still in the process of unpacking.

With carsharing, the cost of using a vehicle is kept stable. Maintenance, insurance, parking and gas are all covered in the usage rates of $3 per booking, $3 per hour and $0.40* per kilometre.

For more information on the true costs of owning a vehicle, please see our Save Money section in the About Carsharing page.

Thanks to Assiniboine Credit Union for making this possible.

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Videos: Chris on Simplicity

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In the second installment of our video series, Chris talks about the Simplicity of carsharing.

CHRIS on SIMPLICITY : Peg City Car Co-op from Peg City Car Co-op on Vimeo.

Why does Chris carshare? He doesn’t drive a lot and usually walks or cycles to work. The added costs of a vehicle, insurance and maintenance add up. In the end they hardly seem worth it. It’s only $500 to join, and he only needs a car once or twice a week at the most.

Chris uses a car for groceries, to visit his parents in the ‘burbs and when he goes on dates. Getting out of awkward date is made easier if the car needs to get back ‘on time’.

Carsharing is good for someone like him, for where he lives and what he does.

[Chris has inspired our tertiary tagline: “Bike. Walk. Bus. And Sometimes, Date.”]

Thanks to Assiniboine Credit Union for making this possible.

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