Evelyne Morisette has been using the Communauto car-sharing service in Montreal for more than 10 years, but she says she’s never had as much trouble finding a car than she has this summer.
“Especially on the weekend … when you’re looking for a Flex, it’s usually really hard to get there,” she said, referring to the model of cars that can be dropped off anywhere within the Communauto’s city territory.
Morisette, the creator of the Spotted: Communauto Facebook page, says the cars usually tend to be available at the extremities of the island, like in the Pointe-aux-Trembles or Ahuntsic neighbourhoods.
In Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, where she lives, they’re scarce, “so when you see a Flex, you take it,” she said.
Marco Viviani, vice-president of strategic development at Communauto, says the company is facing a shortage of cars this year.
Despite ordering an additional 1,300 vehicles, Communauto says it’s only been able to add about 500 in Montreal since the beginning of the year — a 15 per cent increase — and 100 in the rest of Quebec.
“The availability of vehicles is a major concern for people,” Viviani said, saying the fleet falls short of what is needed to meet the growing demand.
According to Viviani, post-pandemic effects and the less lucrative nature of commercial fleets for manufacturers have limited the number of available cars.
Canada’s market is also small compared to the U.S., which affects the number of vehicles available in the country.
WATCH | Communauto’s Montreal service expands:
The car-sharing fleet in the city is getting 1,100 new vehicles — and more areas outside central Montreal are getting access — this year.
In April, Communauto announced it was expanding its service, adding more than 1,100 cars to its fleet and making some of them available in neighbourhoods well outside the downtown core, including Lachine, Rivière-des-Prairies and Bois-Franc.
Viviani said the company’s delayed vehicle order will surely affect this plan, but it still expects to expand gradually in the new neighbourhoods so as to limit the impact on the current network.
Nevertheless, he said it’s important that users understand that Communauto is complementary to other transit options on the island of Montreal.
“Car-sharing is a part of a multi-model system … and sometimes you take a BIXI or you take a cab [to get to one], and this is the way that it can work,” he said.