In January,
Zipcar became the first car-sharing service to be approved by the City of Toronto for on-street parking. Now their competitor, the locally-based
AutoShare, is getting in on the action too, with 22 vehicles parked in six different locations in downtown Toronto and North York. AutoShare President Kevin McLaughlin says the move reflects an important shift for the city. "Symbolically, it means the city is taking another step to thinking about the transportation infrastructure we need for the future," he says. More practically, for the company, it will serve to increase awareness through visibility in addition to the obvious benefit delivered by new locations.
McLaughlin says the industry in Toronto has been experiencing explosive growth. "Four years ago we had 2,000 members," he says. "Today we and our competitor combined have 20,000 people participating in car sharing service. That's a tenfold increase." AutoShare itself has about half of that market, with over 10,000 members on its roster.
The company has gone from five to 16 employees in that same four-year span, and is looking to hire two new employees right now. McLaughlin sees only more growth as the city approves more and more flexible spots for his service and others like it, and as people become more aware of the environmental and economic costs of individual car ownership.
Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Kevin McLaughlin, President, AutoShare
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