CarShare Atlantic launches FLEX: one-way carsharing in Halifax

FLEX car in Halifax

CarShare Atlantic is proud to announce that Halifax residents can count on a new mobility service that is easy, flexible and sustainable: CarShare Atlantic FLEX, one-way carsharing.

The first group of 20 FLEX cars (Hybrids) have been added to the current fleet of CarShare Atlantic. The new FLEX vehicles can be picked up and dropped off at any location on street within a set geographical area or in special parking locations downtown.

CarShare Atlantic members will be able to locate FLEX cars on the smartphone app or on the website, block it for free for 30 minutes to give them time to reach the vehicle, access with their key fob, use them and then leave them somewhere else, on street or in special parking depots in the operating zone.

CarShare Atlantic’s FLEX zone

The 6.3 km2 “FLEX zone” takes up most of the peninsula. Members will be able to travel in and out of the zone, as long the car is brought back and parked in the zone or at designated drop off parking locations downtown like at Scotia Square. The Flex zone includes the participating Waterfront Development parking lots.

All CarShare Atlantic members are automatically eligible to use this service. New members will be able to join the FLEX service without the need to pay for an annual or monthly membership (a one time fee of 35$ is payable at registration) and use FLEX cars at a price of 0.41$/minute or 12$/hour including 100 km for free.

“We are proud to offer the best of two worlds: a station based carsharing service, perfect for planned trips and FLEX Carsharing: ideal for spontaneous one-way trips around town!” says Pam Cooley, President of CarShare Atlantic.

From left to right – Councillor Tim Outhit, CarShare Atlantic President Pam Cooley, Councillor Shawn Cleary, Communauto CEO Benoit Robert

The launch of this new service is significant. Halifax is joining the select club of cities worldwide that recognizes that the investment of station based and one way carsharing contributes to them achieving their multi modal mobility strategy and environmental goals.

Communauto, pioneer of carsharing services in North America, is the collaborative partner and mentor of CarShare Atlantic in this project. CEO Benoit Robert states, “We are proud to accompany CarShare Atlantic, first in the Maritimes, in the implementation of this new mobility service. This service will make it even more compelling for residents to combine transit, active mobility, taxi and carsharing for their mobility needs. We believe that FLEX will become a very popular option and we count on being able to increase the fleet and operating zone soon”.

The FLEX project is powered by technology provided by ETL Electronique, a Canadian company specialized in telemetry for transportation.