Peer car-sharing app coming to B.C. could benefit from timing, says business professor

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A peer to peer car rental service will soon be coming to the province, and could benefit from the timing of its launch, according to a business professor.

Turo announced Thursday it has secured insurance with ICBC to cover vehicles owned by the service’s members and intends to expand in B.C. in the near future.

“Bringing Turo to B.C. has been in the works for many years and we’re excited to finally be in a position to safely introduce our trusted platform and community to the province,” says Cedric Mathieu, VP and Head of Canada at Turo.

“It’s high time British Columbians reaped the huge benefits of peer-to-peer car sharing which other Canadian provinces have enjoyed for the past four years.”

Turo allows people to rent out their cars for others to use at a daily rate.

According to a release from Turo, hosts earn an average of $620 a month in provinces where the service is available.

“With the recent exit of car-sharing platforms from B.C. we’re happy to step in and answer the demand with a car-sharing model that makes more economical and environmental sense –and that does not inflict additional pressure on cities’ parking infrastructures,” says Mathieu.

Share Now, formerly known as Car2go, stopped North American operations in February.

Ideal timing to launch

Marc David Seidel, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business says people who are laid off or working from home may want to make some extra money from their vehicle.

“First of all, there’s going to be an appetite for the increased revenue that can come from it, particularly if people are not needing it to commute to a long-distance workplace at the same time,” he says.

“On the consumer side of it –so the people who are actually going to be renting it– there could be a pent-up demand for people who don’t have a vehicle, because a lot of people in B.C. have been relying on car-shares, and they may not feel as comfortable going into a shared vehicle at this particular point in time.”

He describes the company as Airbnb, but for cars.

Seidel also suggests launching during the pandemic could help the company get off the ground.

“It’s interesting timing for them to be coming in because they might be able to provide somewhat short-term-longer-term rentals… so renting it for a month, or something that, while people need them,” he says.

Seidel also says he believes people in need of a vehicle rental may prefer that option to an Evo, where several drivers a day could be using the same car.

The exact date hasn’t been announced yet, but the company says the expansion is “imminent”

Turo launched in Canada is 2016 and has 850,000 members throughout Canada and currently has 35,000 cars listed across Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.

-With files from David Zura