WHO CAN JOIN?
A Carsharer must be old enough, clean enough, experienced enough, and licensed to drive by the Government of Alberta.
In practical terms, this means you must
· Be 23 years of age or older (if you are not yet 25, please check out the special conditions below).
· Have been driving for three years or more
· Have a valid Class 5 (or better) Alberta Driver’s license. If you’ve just moved from another province, don’t worry, it’s really easy to get your license changed over. You can do it over the counter in 15 minutes.
· Have a clean driving record. This is defined by our insurance company as defined by having
o No more than two (2) minor traffic violations
o No at-fault accidents within the three years prior to application for membership
o No major convictions (such as speeding more than 40kph above the speed limit, failure to report an accident, driving without insurance, etc.)
o No criminal convictions (such as impaired or dangerous driving, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, insurance fraud, etc.)
The fine print: you need to provide CarShare with a copy of your driving record. That may sound complicated but it’s actually pretty fast and really easy. In Alberta you must go in person and it costs about $20: click here for a list of registries. If you were licensed in another province in the past five years, click here to see our page of links. Unfortunately privacy laws restrict us from looking up your driver’s record on your behalf.
(Ontario: https://www.soetrans.serviceontario.ca/MTOWebChannel/?lang=en Ontario’s process is super easy if you have your old license number. You can do it all on-line and it costs about $12. If you don’t have your license number then they need some other personal information like former address, etc. Once your payment has gone through, they provide you with a link to a .pdf of your abstract along with a link to your receipt;
this all comes on the same page, so don’t close the page or navigate away without saving or printing your abstract.)
23 or 24? You guys are special, and there’s a few extra rules for you. Nothing personal—it’s just what our insurance company requires to keep costs down for everyone. The above conditions still apply to you, but if you are under 25 you must also:
o Have been driving for at least three years,
o Not have more than five demerit points,
o Not have any convictions for doing more than 30kph above the speed limit,
o Have had no at-fault accidents within the past five years.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
· There is an up-front, one-time $500 refundable deposit charged to all new CarSharing households ($1000 for business memberships). This goes into our operating pool and covers your deductible should you get into an accident. If you leave Calgary or leave CarShare, we will be sad to see you go, but will happily refund your deposit as long as your driving record with us has been clean. *Please note, that if you do have an accident and we have to dip into the pool for your deductable, you will need to top that up again to maintain a $500 balance.
· All drivers are charged $5/month for every individual member (whether you’re in an Individual, Joint or Business Account) to help us the cost of vehicle maintenance and 24-hour roadside assistance.
· Rental rates consist of a combined hourly charge and mileage charge. The hourly charge varies depending on the time of day and week. Check out the chart below to determine the most cost effective time to drive. The mileage charge is $0.25/km at any time. All vehicles are billed at the same rate.
· Additional charges will apply to violations that inconvenience other members, such as
o Returning a vehicle late
o Leave the car in an unacceptable condition
o Taking the wrong vehicle or taking a vehicle without booking
· You will also be charged for any tickets (parking, speeding, etc.) issued to Calgary CarShare for infractions incurred during your rental period.
Hourly Rate Details
When you book a Calgary CarShare car, you will be charged for the hours you have it booked (don't worry - our reservation system will calculate the expected cost of your booking for you!). The hourly rate depends on the time of day you book it:
| Time of Day |
Weekday Rate |
Weekend and
Holiday Rate |
| Midnight - 8am |
$1.75/hr |
$1.75/hr |
| 8am - Noon |
$3.50/hr |
$7.00/hr |
| Noon - 4pm |
$5.25/hr |
$7.00/hr |
| 4pm - Midnight |
$7.00/hr |
$7.00/hr |
Daily Maximum
Hourly Charge |
$40 per 24hr
period
|
$60 per
24hr period |
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
· Once you’ve filled in our membership form and sent in your driver’s abstract it takes about a week to become approved. Then our on-line tutorial will introduce you to the booking system, which takes about five minutes. The last step is to fill in your paperwork, drop off your refundable deposit and pick up your key from Green Calgary. Don't worry, you'll receive emails with detailed instructions each step of the way. Once you’re a full member, it only takes a few clicks to book your car!
WHAT ABOUT MY SISTER/PARTNER/ROOMMATE/VISITING FRIEND FROM OUT OF TOWN? CAN THEY DRIVE MY CARHSARE CAR?
Unfortunately, only approved CarShare members who meet our criteria and have gone through the application process are insured to drive our cars, so your visiting friend is out of luck. However, if there is more than one prospective CarShare member in your household, you might want to look at a joint membership. You will each be charged a monthly fee (charged to the same account to keep things simple), but only have to pay one $500 deposit between you.