Communauto's Montreal service expands to Lachine and RDP with more than 1,100 new vehicles

Montreal-based car-sharing service Communauto is expanding, adding more than 1,100 cars to its fleet, making some of them available outside the city center, such as Lachine, Rivière-des-Prairies and Bois-Franc.

About 900 of these new vehicles will be available through Communauto's fixed station model, which requires users to return the vehicle to the location where they picked it up. The Flex model includes about 200 cars. These vehicles can be dropped off anywhere in the Communato city area.

At a news conference Monday in Lachine with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, borough mayor Maja Vodanovic and other municipal officials, the company announced plans to expand permanent stations to other neighborhoods such as Dorval, Cartierville and Montreal Nord.

Last year, the service added 900 vehicles to its fleet. This year's additions bring the company's total in Montreal to about 4,800.

“You're seeing growth. The car-sharing market in Montreal is far from saturated,” said Benoit Robert, president and founder of Communauto.

“I'm looking forward to the day when we're talking about 10,000 or even 20,000 cars,” he said.

The company also said it plans to beef up its “station zone” service. The service allows users to pick up and drop off vehicles in an area small enough to walk through, like a middle ground between Flex and registered stations. Communauto says the 500 vehicles will be allocated to station zones located in Montreal's 10 arrondissements.

Around 85 of the new vehicles will be electric and 70 will be minibuses, while Communauto said around 400 vehicles in its current fleet will be replaced with new ones.

Lacyn Mayor Vodanovic said Monday's announcement is another significant improvement in terms of transit options for people in his district. He cited as examples the reserved bus lane on Provost Street, the 496 bus line connecting the district to the city center and the presence of Bixie stations.

Accessibility questions

During the press conference, Communauto's CEO was asked about users not being able to find a car in the app, despite the growing fleet.

Robert admitted that finding a car during rush hour or on weekends can be difficult.

He said users should have more realistic expectations of what Communauto can offer and understand that the car-sharing service complements other transit options on the island of Montreal.

“People who think they can always use (Communavto) without considering the possibility of using public transport or a taxi, may be disappointed,” he said.

“When people see car sharing as one of many options, it fixes a lot.”

He says walking several hundred meters to a car or riding a Bixie is part of the reality of car sharing in Montreal.