Car Sharing in Edmonton
I am a staunch supporter of car rentals and car sharing over ownership for a wide variety of reasons. I have been a member of Hertz 24/7 (earlier On Demand) since May 7 2012 and just today (November 18 2014) I was accepted as a member with Pogo.
Edmonton has been slow to adopt car sharing programs, but with the recent launch of Pogo it is probably best to add some context to the conversation. For both Pogo and Hertz, gas and insurance is included and both have mobile apps.
For reference, Edmonton is the biggest city north of Mexico where residents still lack a viable car-share.
- Number of cars: 17 (up to 50 over the next few months, the real-time map does not show cars that are not available)
- Cost: $15.7395 / hour
- Sign-up cost: $35
- Zone limitation: Yes
- Leave cars anywhere: Yes (in zone)
- Driver abstract required: No
- Sign-up time: 16 days
- Pay for parking: No (in zone)
- Number of cars: 3
- Cost: $6.30 / hour
- Sign-up cost: $0
- Region limitation: No
- Leave cars anywhere: No
- Driver abstract required: No
- Sign-up time: 16 days
- Pay for parking: Yes
Why don’t these kinds of services work in Edmonton?
Thinking into the future, will these car share programs eventually be converted to electric driverless cars?
Update: As of 12/6/14, the Hertz 24/7® vehicles located on the University of Alberta campus will no longer be available.
From Hertz: “It has been a pleasure to have partnered with the University of Alberta in this sustainable, cost-effective and innovative transportation solution.”