Communauto is a Canadian

carsharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

based in

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Québec, Canada, that offers car-sharing services in fifteen Canadian cities and Paris, France. As of March 2018 it had 40,000 users, and a fleet of approximately 2,000 free-floating and station-based vehicles. Communauto provides automobile reservations to its members, billable by the hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition to car reservation charges. Members can reserve vehicles with Communauto's mobile app, online, or by phone at any time, either immediately or up to a month in advance. Communauto members have automated access to the cars using an access card which unlocks the door; or using the mobile application. The keys are already located inside. Communauto may charge a deposit, an annual fee, and a reservation charge, depending on the plan chosen. Fuel, parking, insurance, and maintenance are included in the price.

History

Communauto was founded in Quebec City in 1994 by Benoît Robert, its current CEO. Cycling advocate and environmentalist Claire Morissette played a major role in its evolution starting in 1995, when Communauto established itself in Montreal as a private company. As of 2017, the company had close to 50,000 users and over 2,000 vehicles. Communauto acquired Paris, France-based Mobizen in 2012, merged with Ottawa-based VRTUCAR in 2016, and acquired CarShare Atlantic in 2018. Communauto's goal is to provide a convenient and economical alternative to owning a car. In June 2022, Communauto expanded to the city of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

Membership

Communauto has various membership plans for its members; they are suited for different kinds of users, from infrequent users to frequent users.

Services

Communauto offers two kinds of vehicles: round-trip vehicles and Flex vehicles. Round-trip vehicles must be returned to their station after use, and are best suited for planned trips. FLEX vehicles, only offered in some cities, can be picked up and dropped off within a designated area. They are best suited for spontaneous or one-way trips.

Fleet

Communauto has various vehicles available in its fleet. However, the majority of vehicles available are compact and sub-compact vehicles. Communauto UdeM

Common vehicles in the Communauto fleet

Sedan

* Toyota Corolla (sedan) * Kia Forte (sedan)

Hatchback

Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the Starlet and Tercel. Up to 2019, Toyota had used the Yaris nameplate on export versions of various Japanese-market models, with some markets receiving the same vehicl ...

Toyota Prius C The Toyota Prius c (''c'' stands for "city"), also known as the ; ''"wikt:aqua, aqua"'' is Latin for water) in Japan, is a full hybrid gasoline-electric Subcompact car, subcompact/supermini hatchback manufactured and marketed by Toyota. The Prius ...

Kia Rio The Kia Rio () is a subcompact car manufactured by Kia from 1999 to 2023. Body styles have included a three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan, equipped with inline-four gasoline and diesel engines, and front-wheel drive. The Rio ...

Hyundai Accent The Hyundai Accent (), or Hyundai Verna (현대 베르나) is a subcompact car produced by Hyundai. In Australia, the first generation models carried over the Hyundai Excel name used by the Accent's predecessor. The Accent was replaced in 2000 ...

Nissan LEAF The is a battery-electric car manufactured by Nissan, produced since 2010. It was offered exclusively as a 5-door hatchback until 2025, which since then has become a crossover SUV model. The term "LEAF" serves as a backronym to ''leading envir ...

* Kia e-Niro

SUV

Kia Sportage The Kia Sportage () is a series of automobiles manufactured by the South Korean manufacturer Kia since 1993 through five generations. Initially a compact SUV built on a body-on-frame chassis, the second-generation Sportage transitioned to a ca ...

Hyundai Venue The Hyundai Venue () is a subcompact crossover SUV manufactured by South Korean manufacturer Hyundai. The Venue debuted at the 2019 New York International Auto Show as Hyundai's smallest global crossover, prior to the introduction of other s ...

Hyundai Kona The Hyundai Kona () is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai. The first-generation Kona debuted in June 2017 and the production version was revealed later that year. It is positioned between the Venue or Ba ...

City coverage and partnerships

Communauto operates as Communauto (VRTUCAR) in six cities in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Waterloo, Hamilton, London, Guelph, Kingston, and Toronto. It operates as Communauto in five cities in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Montreal,

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

and

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, and Paris, France. Communauto's users-per-vehicle ratio can rise in winter to 20 users per vehicle and drops to about 15 users per vehicle in summer. In Paris, France, the company signed a partnership in May 2017 with the local public-transport operator,

RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...

. As of May 2019, 200 cars are available across 100 sites located in Paris and close suburbs. In 2023, Peg City Car Co-op, a car sharing service operating in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba, announced a partnership with Communauto to handle the creation of the Peg City Car Co-op app.

Impact

The impact of carsharing in Quebec was evaluated in a study from Communauto and conducted by Tecsult Inc. in 2006. With an estimated 168,000 tons of emissions eliminated per year as a result of carsharing.

Cyber Attack

On January 8, 2021, Communauto notified customers that it has been the victim of a cyber attack. CEO Benoit Robert assured that no potentially sensitive data including account passwords or credit card information were accessed.

References

External links

Communauto official website
{{Vehicle rental brands 1994 establishments in Quebec Carsharing Companies based in Montreal Transport companies established in 1994 Privately held companies of Canada Transport companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 1994