Something very exciting happened on Friday evening, we added a ninth car to the fleet! This brand new Honda Fit is located at 511 River, near the corner with Nassau Street.

This car is important for a number of reasons. First, we just completed our member survey —  there was an overwhelming request for another vehicle in Osborne Village. Our membership has been rising steadily (240!) and demand has been increasing with it, so we we are pleased to provide a second option for members living in our busiest neighbourhood.

Second,  it marks our first agreement to sell carsharing as a service on-site for building developers. Agreements such as this allow developers to substantially reduce their parking requirements  for residents and encourage them to bike, walk, bus and sometimes drive as an integral part of where they live and what they do.  It also helps encourage density in established neighbourhoods — something we would like to see more of. We’ve been working on this agreement since 2009!  We expect this to be the first agreement of many.

One final note: we will be selling investment shares again this year!  We are officially only 2 cars away from our 2014 goal of 11 cars serving 350 members! Check back here in the next few weeks to learn more about how you can help us grow through investing, while earning a 30% tax credit from the Province.

Happy spring everyone! We have some very exciting news to share.

As we approach our second anniversary we are introducing new rate plans as well as a new, casual driver category.

Since launching in June of 2011, we’ve grown to 120 members sharing four cars. As we prepare to grow our  fleet to 11 cars by 2014, we want to make joining Peg City Car Co-op both easier and more affordable to do.

Starting May 1st, we are making some changes to our membership rates:

• Booking fees are being eliminated! (except those made by phone)
• The hourly fee for regular members has been increased, but the kilometre fee has been cut by almost half! Most members will experience a decrease in their overall bill.
• We will be offering members an opportunity to join our new Member+ pricing option. It will offer savings if you find yourself booking four or more trips a month.
• To accommodate our expansion and to offer greater flexibility to possible future members, we are introducing a “Casual Driver” option to new users.
• We are eliminating all additional drivers deposits. From now on, add drivers to any member account for only $25.
• Day rates have been simplified. A maximum number of hours will be charged  per day (10hrs weekdays/15hrs weekends). All kilometre charges will be applied.

What this looks like:

For more information visit our rates page or contact us directly: [email protected]

Press release from UWinnipeg:

WINNIPEG, MB – Today is Earth Day, and The University of Winnipeg is partnering with Peg City Car Co-op to offer students and others in the University community a new, sustainable transportation option on campus: car sharing. Effective the first week of May, a silver Honda Fit will be parked free of charge year-round behind UWinnipeg’s Buhler Centre at 490 Portage Avenue.

UWinnipeg is committed to offering active and sustainable transportation options on campus. Most recently, in partnership with The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, a campus and community Bike Lab opened that provides free year-round programming to students, staff, faculty and community members including bike maintenance and safety workshops. Additionally, UWinnipeg is now the downtown terminus for Winnipeg’s new rapid transit corridor connecting 14 bus routes to the east and south ends of the city. The Balmoral Transit Station, located at UWinnipeg’s AnX, features weather protection for passengers and real-time BUSwatch electronic signs.

“The car share option is an incredibly exciting addition to our campus,” said Alana Lajoie-O’Malley, Director, Campus Sustainability Office. “Several University employees are unable to walk, bike, or bus to work because they must drive to off campus meetings during the day. Our hope is that making this vehicle available to these staff members will reduce the number of University employees driving their cars to and from their homes.”

HOW CAR SHARE WORKS

“This partnership with the University of Winnipeg will provide us with new opportunities to expand our membership,” said Beth McKechnie, manager of Peg City Car Co-op. “This car will be conveniently located near our members in the West Broadway and Spence neighbourhoods, and we also represent a new transportation option for all students, workers and small businesses in the downtown area.”

To join, potential members must have a clear driving record and be at least 21 years of age. Members have access to a fleet of vehicles parked in a handful of Winnipeg neighbourhoods, 24 hours a day. Usage is paid on hourly and per kilometre basis.
UWINNIPEG – AN ECO-LEADER

The University of Winnipeg and the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association is also pleased to accept the 2013 Polar Bears International’s Paws of Approval Award, which handed out during a dinner on Friday, April 19, 2013. The award celebrates organizations, groups, and individuals who are making a serious contribution to reducing greenhouse gases.

In the last five years, UWinnipeg has become an award-winning eco-leader garnering national attention through the following sustainability initiatives:

All UWinnipeg campus food scraps, containers and biodegradable cutlery composted at the Forks by the unique BIOvator
Created Diversity Foods serving nutritious, local and sustainable food on campus
First university in Canada to ban the sale of plastic water bottles
Installed a hybrid heating system that switches between natural gas and electricity, reducing GHG emissions from core buildings by as much as 25%
Outfitted all campus bathrooms with low-flow toilets and sinks, saving more than 4.5 million litres of water per year
Uses green cleaning practices and products including phosphate-free detergents
All printers on campus default to double-sided printing, saving countless amounts of paper
New campus facilities constructed to minimum LEED Silver standard (McFeetors Hall: Great-West Life Student Residence and The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association Daycare Centre formally awarded LEED Silver by the Green Building Council of Canada in 2011)

In 2005, President Lloyd Axworthy committed to a comprehensive Sustainability Management System for UWinnipeg, which means potential environmental impact is factored into all decisions. The 2013 Globe & Mail Canadian University Report places UWinnipeg among Canada’s best for environmental commitment.

Later today, Dr. Axworthy is also receiving an Honourary Doctorate from the National Technical University of Ukraine – Kyiv Polytechnic Institute(known as KPI) in recognition of UWinnipeg’s commitment and achievement in creating a sustainable campus. KPI is considered one of the foremost “green” science and engineering facilities in Ukraine.

Dear friends/members/supporters,

We have the best news! The Province of Manitoba has extended our investment share deadline for shares that qualify for the 2012 tax credit until February 28th. That means you have six more weeks to purchase investment shares and get all the tax credit benefits this spring!

If you are new to the idea of CED investment shares, check out our video!

Next, visit www.pegcitycarcoop.ca/invest to download the paperwork and check out the fine print. Shares are purchased in $100 increments and can be paid for by cash, check or through PayPal!

Every Monday in December, we brought you another reason to support carsharing in Winnipeg. Help us grow by purchasing investment shares. The deadline to receive a 30% tax credit from the Province is TODAY!

This week is a recap of the reasons and is a reminder that today is your last chance (this year) to buy your investment shares and qualify for a 30% tax rebate. No worries if you can’t get the paperwork  in today and we have a handy Paypal option for the last minute investments.

Throughout the month, we’ve written specifically about the economic, environmental and health benefits of living in a city with a robust carsharing service. Last week, we reached our year-end goal of raising $50,000! With a week to spare! With that money , we will be able to purchase new cars for the fleet and expand into new neighbourhoods. We are already planning our next locations.

We have been approved to raise $200,000 and with our $50,000 goal surpassed, we are still accepting share purchases. So don’t let the year end pass without getting the benefit of the tax credit!

Finally, we didn’t go into great detail on the topic of community. The truth is, carsharing is a tough business. Anybody who works in this industry can tell you it isn’t a get rich quick scheme. Cars are expensive to run, owners know this.  They get even more so when you are committed to keeping them in the best working order possible and providing great customer service. To be a successful and sustainable carshare, we will need to grow.

So why do we do it? We believed that Winnipeg would benefit from this service. Exactly for all the environmental, health, and economic reasons listed before. We chose to become a co-op because we knew it would be the business model that is most likely to succeed. We also wanted this to be a service that is member focused. All decisions are made with our members in mind. Not profits. It is also why we are able to offer some of the lowest prices in the industry.

So, thank you Winnipeg, for supporting us over the past year. We launched in June of 2011 with 3 cars and 36 members. We now have 4 cars and over 110 members. Thank you for helping us grow.

Happy New Year from the board and staff of Peg City Car Co-op!

Every Monday in December, the Festive 5 will bring you another reason to support carsharing in Winnipeg. Help us grow by purchasing investment shares. The deadline to receive a 30% tax credit from the Province is December 31st, 2012. This week we’re talking…

COMMUNITY

In this post, we were going to speak about carsharing and co-ops as builders of stronger, more resilient communities. Instead, we have been so inspired by the demonstration of support given to us, that we realized, we are benefiting from the strong commitment to community that is already here.

This may come across as sentimental, but isn’t that what the holidays are for?

While our over all goal is to raise $200,000 so that we can grow to 11 cars in the next 2 years, we made it our short term goal in November to raise $50,000 by the end of December. As with many goals, we set our target on our most reasonable expectations, with the understanding that we may not make it. But we did!

We are officially over the $50,000 goal, which is enough money to allow to expand our fleet!

So from all of the members and staff at Peg City Car Co-op we want to take this opportunity to say thank you! Thank you so much for believing in this project. We chose to be a co-op, because we knew that making a carshare work in Winnipeg was a challenge, but we also firmly believed that this is a city that deserves the transportation perks and amenities available in larger cities.

Earning your support has been the biggest reward to date. Ultimately, that is what the CED tax credit program is all about. Community-supported and funded business.

That being said, today is December 24th. Please enjoy the holidays! Dress warm and drive (or bike) safe!

Oh, and we are still accepting investments until the end of the year!