Communauto ‘Flex’ service coming to Ottawa and Gatineau

Communauto’s ‘Flex’ service will allow users to make one-way trips to Ottawa or Gatineau. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

The Communauto carsharing service is expanding its offerings in Ottawa and Gatineau with “Flex” service options that will serve both cities.

Typically, a Communauto customer must reserve a car in advance, pick it up at a specific location and return it to the same spot when done. Flex service allows drivers to pick up an available vehicle on demand and end the trip in any valid location.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette made the joint announcement Friday alongside Communauto founder and president Benoît Robert. The pilot project will launch in mid-October with a fleet of 30 vehicles.

“We want to give our residents as many options as possible and we want to continue to treat Ottawa and Gatineau as one economic region. Sometimes, it’s challenging because it’s two cities. It’s two provinces. There’s a river in between us,” Sutcliffe told CTV News Ottawa.

“This is an example of how when we work together, we can provide solutions on both sides of the river. Somebody can pick up a car in Ottawa and drive it to Gatineau and leave it here. Or they can pick up a car in Gatineau, drive to Ottawa and leave it there. It’s a great system.”

The service will be available in Sandy Hill, Centretown, the Glebe, and the Island of Hull. Each of these areas will be considered “Flex zones” where a rented car from the region can be dropped off when done.

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Benoit Robert, President and founder of Communauto, says the two municipal administrations worked together to make this program possible.

“They were able to collaborate together and they were able to remove all the barriers that prevented us to launch this offer that’s existed for quite a while now in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton, in Ontario as well,” Robert said.

“To achieve our sustainable mobility goals, it was essential for the Gatineau–Ottawa region to have a free-floating carsharing service available without reservation. In today’s economic context, providing a more affordable alternative to car ownership is a necessity,” said Marquis-Bissonnette. “Each free-floating vehicle can replace 7 to 11 private cars on the road, helping to reduce congestion and improve the quality of life for the entire community. I welcome this collaboration between our two cities, which reflects the economic reality and the transportation matters of our region.”

According to Communauto, you can travel anywhere in Canada or the U.S. with a Flex vehicle, but it must be returned to a “Flex zone” within the city where the vehicle belongs. In the National Capital Region, a car rented in Ottawa can be released in Gatineau and vice versa.

“It complements, our public transit system because it’s just giving people more options,” Sutcliffe said.

“Having an option like this where somebody can use a car, travel a certain distance, park it and leave it there, maybe they get picked up later, or they walk home or take public transit. It just gives more options.”

Commonauto uses a tiered subscription system. Drivers are charged by the hour for use of a Communauto vehicle. Rates include insurance, and drivers are asked to leave at least a quarter tank of gas in the car when dropping it off.

“Whether a Communauto user is registered in Gatineau or Ottawa, the FLEX rate in the National Capital Region will be the most advantageous between the user’s Ontario plan rate and the FLEX per-minute rate,” the company says.

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MOBI-O, the mobility expertise centre for Outaouais and Abitibi-Témiscamingue, says the arrival of Flex service will benefit both residents and visitors to the National Capital Region.

“A single sustainable transportation solution doesn’t suit everyone. To meet needs, we must offer several reliable and available options, with as few constraints as possible,” said MOBI-O co-executive director Patrick Robert-Meunier in a news release, translated from French. “By adding a service like FLEX, we’re filling a gap that has existed for too long in the region.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Camille Wilson.