Communauto launched a new carsharing service in Calgary earlier this month, the company announced. Communauto Flex consists of 150 cars that are deployed in an area covering 26 square kilometres.

The launch of the service was made possible by City Council's approval of the revised Carshare Parking Policies and Traffic Bylaw earlier this year.  

Tiered pricing for on-street parking

• Tier 1: The $450 fee per year, per car, for Tier 1 is unchanged from the city's current policy and allows carshare operators to park vehicles in unpaid and residential permit spaces. Tier 1 does not include the downtown core.

• Tier 2: costs $840 per year, per car, includes parking in residential, unmetered and metered zones outside of the downtown core.

• Tier 3: $1440 per year, per car. Allows operators to use on-street parking in all priced areas, in residential areas and in Calgary's downtown core.

The city will also apply a 50% discount to the annual fees for fully-electric carshare vehicles, consistent with the actions in Calgary's Climate Resilience Strategy and Electric and Low-Emission Vehicle Strategy. The policy change also allows carshare vehicles to park beyond posted time limits (for locations with a limit of 1 hour or longer).

The service, that rolled out jointly with its twin service in Edmonton, has no monthly fee and its usage costs $0.45/minute, $15/hour, or $50 for one day and $35 the following days. For day trips, 100 kms are included in the trip price, and additional kms are billed at $0.20/km. Other plans are offered allowing people to use cars for $2.95/hour, plus $0.29/km, with fuel and insurance included.