|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
The Car Co-op
OFFICE HOURS
SIGN-IN ORIENTATIONS |
|
  
|
|
|
| home>>about car sharing>>benefits | |
Benefits
Improved Air QualityAs you are probably aware, Environment Canada reports that air pollution can be linked to an estimated 5000 premature deaths in Canada each year. In BC, deaths from air pollution pose threats that are comparable to health issues more of us think and talk about: drug-induced deaths, suicides, alcohol, HIV/AIDS and accidental falls. Having clean air contributes to all of our well-being! And we all recognize that automobile emissions are the major contributor to air pollution in the Vancouver region. The Car Co-op encourages members to use alternative transportation as much as possible (walk, cycle, take transit) and to use cars as a last resort. With car sharing as a choice, Co-op members drive much less (1400 km/year) than the average driver (6000-24,000 km/year) in the Lower Mainland. The Car Co-op selects cars on a number of criteria, taking a life-cycle approach to assessing environmental impact. According to our statistics, up to 50% of people who join The Car Co-op sold or donated their car to do so. That's almost 3,000 fewer cars on our roads and in parking lots (so far)! With cars that are more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning on the road - and fewer of them - The Car Co-op is instrumental in improving air quality in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. Action against Climate ChangeThe Car Co-op's encouragement and expansion of car sharing directly and positively affects climate change. The David Suzuki Foundation reports that greenhouse gas emissions are the biggest factor in climate change. It also reports that the biggest slice of the problem pie is personal transportation. With car sharing as a choice, Car Co-op members drive much less (1400 km/year) than the average driver (6000-24,000 km/year) in the Lower Mainland. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, a Car Co-op member's driving emits 0.32 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents, which is 10-36 times less than the average driver. Alternative LifestylesMembers have alternative lifestyles (that defy car culture) by being Car Co-op members! We have an open and democratic membership that has always accepted two people living in the same household - including same-sex partnerships or mother/child family relationships - joining as full and associate members. (If the first person in the household joins with a $500 share purchase, the second person can join for $250. Also, by combining their driving on one account, two members can minimize their cost per household.) Safer, Quieter & Less Crowded StreetsBy working to end auto dependence and dominance, we reduce the use of and number of cars. These kinds of reductions will make for more livable communities in which you can feel safer, have fewer parked cars to contend with and have less noisy vehicles to listen to as well. Cost Cutting for the Self-EmployedA good portion of our membership are small business owners and home-based consultants who need a nice, reliable vehicle to perform tasks for their business. They are able to do this without committing to a car that may cost a lot more than it's worth. These members are happily able to write off all car-related expenses against their income as well! The Car Co-op also supports workers in the film industry. These are people who work like mad for a few months then are not working for months at a time. During their work time, we're there to get them to set and back - and when they aren't working, they're not trying to find the money to support a vehicle payment. Clean WaterWater issues are emotional concerns to most people on the planet. People worry about water exports and logging in the watersheds, but are you aware that 25% of the contaminants putting our oceans at risk are from air pollution and offshore oil? The run-off from our streets is predominantly a lot of tire dust, oil, gas and grease from dirty vehicles - all of which ends up in our aquifers. This doesn't even take into account the herbicides used to keep down the roadside brush for visibility or the salt used to reduce ice. Simply washing cars on a street endangers the local water quality as the cleaning solutions enter the sewage system without an opportunity to be 'scrubbed' by layers of grass, dirt and gravel before entering our groundwater. Social JusticeAn important aspect of The Car Co-op's pragmatic approach to transportation is the form and function of the social issues we hope to address. Until The Car Co-op, Equity in Transportation used to begin and end at a bus stop. Now people with some economic challenges are able to visit friends and family, get out of the city and otherwise get where they need to go without relying on others to assist them. It is a real boost for members going to job interviews - even just actually being able to get to job interviews - in terms of self-esteem and self-actualization. More Links to Buses, SkyTrain & SeaBusThe Car Co-op already hosts a number of vehicles along 98 and 99 B-Line stops, at SkyTrain locations, and close to both SeaBus terminals. Expansion will take the form of following established transit nodes while we do our best for transit-poor areas and commuters too. Community GardensThe Car Co-op was instrumental in helping the Mole Hill Community Housing Society in the West End reduce the City of Vancouver-mandated requirement for 110 parking stalls for Mole Hill Community Housing down to 28 parking stalls, as we agreed to host shared vehicles on the site. Much of the space that should have become parking stalls is now a community garden! Access to MobilityThe vision of sustainable transportation has been forever changed by the inclusion of car sharing. For many years, transportation analysts and planners have been looking for the answer to reducing the demands on our current systems by the ever-increasing population of vehicles. (The number of cars in the Lower Mainland is actually growing at almost twice the human population growth.) The Car Co-op and car sharing have provided that missing link in the transportation chain. Car sharing facilitates the most appropriate use of transportation means for the task: walking, cycling, roller-blading, taking the bus, carpooling and using taxis are becoming the choice of savvy people looking to keep their personal expenses down while affirming their own commitment to the environment. The car becomes the mode of last resort once access to it is guaranteed. Boosting Use of Local BusinessWe also support our local stores because there is an extra step involved in actually getting a car - rather than just walking to the curb side. The car "just outside the door" is removed, and by doing this we've removed the impulse to drive to other communities to see what's for sale. Our members start looking for options close by. This usually means selecting businesses in their neighbourhood rather than in outlying cities. Less Stress on Green SpaceThe number of cars in the Lower Mainland is actually growing at almost twice the rate as the number of humans. Stemming the flow is a big part of The Car Co-op's environmental work. Believe this: if enough voters cry for more lanes and parking spots, our political leaders will cave in and build them - every time. We've seen it most recently with the Stanley Park Causeway and Highway Number 1. The provincial government's current plan to create another bridge that would partially twin the route of the Port Mann Bridge is another example. We need to be reducing auto dominance and auto dependence - not cutting down trees and digging into grass and tree-filled easements to make it easier (and faster) for cars to travel. We need to offer more choices than new asphalt - one of those choices is car sharing! While the loss of a place to play in and a field with trees is always awful, worse still is the loss of habitat and the natural filtration system offered by grass and trees. Once an area is paved, the water will actually cascade into the ditches, destroying fragile habitat webs and shooting fish fry into ocean environments they are not able to survive in. The ripple effects from the loss of green space are immense. Improved Quality of LifeThe Car Co-op's creation and emergence on the transportation scene have never been more eloquently stated than when a member said, "Thank you - being a member of The Car Co-op has vastly increased my quality of life." We are sure this is the case for many of our members. Some remark how they have become physically more fit; some have paid off debts, returned to school, found employment or simply been able to say at interviews that yes, they do have a car. Others tell us that just being able to get where the bus can't take them for a hike (and having us know when they're supposed to be back!) has allowed them a sense of freedom they hadn't previously felt. A lot of people just feel liberated as they don't feel the impending doom of huge vehicle maintenance bills looming. Many feel reassured that the car they drive will get them to the destination. Family members are able to visit more and still nobody has to argue over who gets the car for an activity-packed day. Some members (who have been members for two years or more) have called us to thank us. They say that through car sharing with us they were able to purchase their first house or condominium or townhouse! Whatever the reason, we are glad of the ways we have worked to make life more livable for our members, the community and the planet. We look forward to years of helping to create transportation choices that improve everyone's well-being. For sources and for more info, read our Social & Environmental Report! |
|
|
home|join us|about The Car Co-op|privacy policy|contact us |
