Carolyn Finlay says she has no problem with car sharing.
She just wishes there was more sharing happening on her two-block residential street.
But Finlay says as the popularity of car sharing has grown in North Vancouver, her street has at times become a parking lot for the car-sharing businesses.
“They’ve been using our street basically as a commercial parking lot for their cars,” she said. “Sometimes the cars have stayed here for more than a week. Nobody picks them up.”
Finlay says she’s seen mechanics come to work on the cars parked on her street, then leave again. “It’s like we’re living in a garage,” she said.
Finlay said she wouldn’t object to one or two vehicles from each of the car-sharing services parking on her street. But earlier this month, over the Family Day long weekend, Finlay said there were a dozen car-share vehicles in the blocks in front of her house. “When you get up to 12 of them, it’s ridiculous,” she said.
“Sometimes the cars have stayed here for more than a week. Nobody picks them up.”
When too many cars pile up on the street, Finlay calls the car-share companies. “They’re always very polite,” she said, and send staff out to move the vehicles.
“Generally, it’s a couple of days,” she said. And sometimes the cars are quickly back.
“One can’t be out there as a traffic warden all the time,” she said.
Finlay’s situation is among the growing pains as car sharing gains a foothold on the North Shore. Two car-share companies – Car2Go and Evo – currently operate services in North Vancouver. Both have similar boundaries for the “home zones” where car-share users can drop off vehicles after a trip.
Finlay’s address on West 23rd Street, in the District of North Vancouver, lies on the very northern boundary of the zone where both car-shares operate.
Similar issues have also been logged in the City of North Vancouver, where a resident on Wilding Way – the eastern border for the Car2Go parking zone – recently wrote city officials to complain about 10 Car2Go vehicles parked on his street. City staff contacted the company and the vehicles were moved.
But he and Finlay both wonder about whether limits should be placed on the number of car-share vehicles left on residential streets. Both also questioned why the pile-ups happen in the first place, since car-share companies track all their vehicles with GPS.
Chris Iuvancigh, general manager for Car2Go’s Vancouver operations, said the company does try to stay on top of occasional parking clag-ups. Most car-share vehicles are moved within 15 hours, he said, and if they don’t, “we proactively move vehicles. It doesn’t benefit us at all if cars are sitting for long periods of time.”
In cases where 10 car-share vehicles are sitting on one street “that’s a huge flag for us.”
Recent complaints appeared to spike with the snow, said Iuvancigh, which made getting around frustrating for everyone.
Iuvanicigh acknowledged that most problems happen on the borders of the car-share parking zones. Car-share companies decide the boundaries of their operations based mainly on density, as well as requests from members.
Sometimes the companies do adjust their boundaries. Last year, Car2Go shrunk its “home area” in North Vancouver, cutting much of Lower Capilano west of Mackay, Pemberton Heights and Norgate neighbourhoods from its parking zone.
Service was also cut entirely in Richmond, while boundaries have expanded in south Vancouver.
Car-shares in the City of North Vancouver can park on any street in their “home zones” for up to 72 hours as well as in two-hour limited parking areas and resident-only permitted areas, as well as in specially designated car-share parking spaces in popular areas near central and Lower Lonsdale.
For the most part, the companies have been responsive to concerns, said City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto. “We want to work with the neighbours and the car-share companies,” he said. “They’ve been very well accepted in the communities.”
