To own or not to own: Torontonians on why they love car sharing services

Torontonians who use car sharing services to get around the city say the option is easy, affordable and replaces the need to own an expensive car.

Andrea Oppedisano mostly uses her bike to get around Toronto. She says every once in a while she needs to transport stuff or make trips to stores like Home Depot or Ikea. That's when she relies on Zipcar. 

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"I wouldn't be able to afford a car anyway so this is a good option for people who only need one occasionally," she said. "I don't have the expense of owning a car but I have the convenience of using a car when I need one."

Recently, people in some Toronto neighbourhoods wanted to put a stop to car2go vehicles using parking places on residential streets, something Car2go has urged Toronto city council to allow its customers to do. 

After trying and failing to get council to establish new parking regulations, the company has told its users to "drive it and park it on street and don't even worry about all the crazy parking restrictions."

Bonnie Anderson, a Toronto resident who lives in the upper beaches, says she loves the car2go service and the fact that she can park on the street now.

"It just makes it so convenient and so fantastic. It has replaced my need to buy a car," she said. 

Anderson is a filmmaker and videographer who often has to transport heavy equipment around the city.

"I'm a cyclist so I usually bike everywhere but every once in a while I need a car," she says. "The cars are so tiny, you can get many more on the roads or in parking spots."

Anderson says she does not understand why city council doesn't ease restrictions for car sharing services such as car2go.

"They're complaining about the fact that there's all this traffic in the city," she said. "It's actually something they should be supporting. It means that people don't have to go out and buy a car."

Paul Landini, who uses car2go several times a week, used to own a car in the city when he first moved from the suburbs. 

"It was just a huge pain having it. It affected my insurance rates, I had to pay for parking," he said. "The stress of just driving in the city was kind of overwhelming."

Landini says he sympathizes with frustrated residents who can't park on the streets but says the advantages of car sharing services should outweigh the negatives. 

"In terms of the convenience of getting around, the city isn't going to do anything about making the TTC any more affordable or convenient," he says. "I don't think they have much to stand on in terms of arguing against car2go because the service is filling in a void."

In the late 1990s, Kevin McLaughlin helped found Autoshare, now owned by and known as Enterprise Carshare. Years later, he sold it and moved on to other projects. McLaughlin said convenience is why the service and others like it are proving so popular. 

"For someone who doesn't use a car very often, dealing with it is a pain," he said. "Car sharing…gets people to sell their cars, gets people to avoid buying a car, and once you don't own a car, you drive a lot less."

Oppedisano, Anderson and Landini all agree that car sharing services have replaced their need to own a car and changed the way they experience Toronto. 

"It's been a great service for me. It's changed the way I interact with the city entirely," Landini said. "It's really allowed me to be a bit more social in areas I've never gone to as much, and it's eased a lot of financial issues as well."