Staff are recommending the City's 'free-floating car-share' program should become a permanent fixture on Toronto streets.

The free-floating car-share service, which has proven successful in other Canadian cities, allows members to take one-way trips beginning in one location and ending in another. This means you can pick up cars and drop them off at legal residential parking spaces throughout the city. Unlike other car-sharing services, you aren't restricted to a fixed location.


READ: Introducing Toronto’s New Car-Share Program That Allows One-Way Trips: Communauto Flex

As part of the pilot, Canada’s longest-running car-sharing company, Communauto FLEX, was the first company to receive a permit to participate

With the program nearly complete, staff have reviewed findings from the pilot provided by Communauto, including complaints received from residents during the pilot, and staff have concluded that the pilot has proven to be successful.

"Based on these findings, Transportation Services is recommending that the Free-Floating Car-Share Pilot become a permanent program at the end of the pilot period, starting May 1, 2020," reads the staff report.

The report proposes a few changes that should be made to the pilot in order for it to become permanent, including creating free-floating car-share permit and re-issuance fees, implementing new fines for exceeding the 48-hour parking limit, parking in waitlisted areas/streets, and failing to display parking permits, to name a few.

According to the staff report, car-sharing programs not only offer a sustainable transportation option but they also reduce:

  • Vehicle ownership rates
  • Household transportation costs
  • Vehicle kilometres travelled
  • Greenhouse gases and emissions
  • Increase walking, cycling, and transit use
  • The pilot, which began on November 1, 2018, is slated to conclude on April 30, 2020. The staff report must first be approved by the Toronto's Infrastructure & Environment Committee and then by City Council.

    Toronto