New Communauto users in the Laval region will soon be entitled to financial assistance of up to $500, the administration of Mayor Boyer has just announced, which wants to accelerate the adoption of car sharing. This is a first in Quebec.
Posted at 3:14 p.m.
“We had to give a blow to Laval, which remains a city very dependent on the automobile, so we are using extraordinary means,” explains the vice-president of Communauto, Marco Viviani, in an interview.
Available starting May 6, the financial assistance program will aim to “partially reimburse the costs of using a car-sharing service,” indicates the City of Laval. Each resident will be eligible for a maximum of two grants of $250, for a total of $500. Only people who joined Communauto after 1er January 2024 will however be able to request it.
The provincial government will largely finance the project, estimated at $200,000. Quebec will add $160,000, while Laval will add $40,000 drawn from its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Compensation Fund, which essentially taxes developers for gases associated with the construction of residential projects. In total, approximately 800 grants of $250 can be given to users.
At the same time, the company will add 16 additional vehicles in nine districts, notably in Laval-des-Rapides and Chomedey. Around ten vehicles will also be installed “in the peripheral sectors” of Laval, bringing the total cars available from 26 to 52.
An additional rental of ten hybrid cars is also planned by the City of Laval itself. The vehicles will be used by its administrative staff during the day on weekdays, then they will be made accessible to the population in the evenings and on weekends.
“We are very proud to diversify the mobility options available to Laval residents. We are offering an effective and accessible option to reduce solo driving, while taking into account the reality of Laval for daily travel,” argued Wednesday the Duvernay-Pont-Viau councilor responsible for issues related to development. of the territory, Christine Poirier.
Parking spaces reserved for Communauto vehicles will be available from now on at the Vimont and Sainte-Rose stations, with the aim of allowing users of the 12-Saint-Jérôme train line to complete their journey by car sharing.
To date, Communauto does not plan to extend a financial assistance program to other cities. “That’s not the intention. In Montreal and Quebec, growth is already quite significant, I don’t think that would be desirable. That said, we remain curious to see the effect it will have,” concludes Mr. Viviani.
