Modo (car co op)

Modo – formerly the Co-operative Auto Network – is the region’s only local, member-owned carshare operator. It was incorporated in 1997, making it the oldest carsharing organization in the area, first carshare co-op in North America and the first carshare in the English-speaking world. Modo amalgamated with the Victoria Carshare Co-op in 2015 and now serves 14 municipalities in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria.

As a co-operative business, Modo’s mandate is to serve the needs of its members and community by reducing dependency on privately owned vehicles, by allowing more people to share fewer cars. Doing so reduces traffic congestion and pollution, and the demands on land use for parking; thereby contributing to more livable communities.

As of 2016, Modo has over 17,000 individual and business members and a fleet of 500 vehicles, including cars, trucks, SUVs, passenger and cargo vans, premium cars, hybrids and electrics. Currently, one in five cars in the fleet is a hybrid or electric. Modo has vehicles in more than 250 locations including Vancouver, UBC, Richmond, Surrey, New Westminster, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt and Saanich, and at the Horseshoe Bay, Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay ferry terminals.

Modo offers two-way, roundtrip carsharing. Each of its vehicles has a designated parking space, with cars picked up and dropped off the same location. Vehicles can be booked in 15 minute increments, with a 30-minute minimum and a 30-day maximum. Members book online, by phone or using an app, and access the vehicles using a fob. There are three types of membership including Monthly, Modo Plus and Business. Rates as low as $4/hour, include gas, insurance, maintenance, bridge tolls, roadside assistance and privileged parking. Modo’s call centre is operated from its Granville Street location and available 24/7 to assist members.

Some factors driving the uptake in carsharing include the rising cost of housing and lack of available parking. Two-way carshare vehicles like Modo remove between nine to 13 privately owned vehicles from the roads, with most individually owned cars sitting idle 95% of their life. The average cost of owning and operating a car is $9,500 per year, while the average Modo member spends less than $1,500 on carsharing.

The only other two-way carshare operator in the region is US-based Zipcar. BCAA-owned Evo and US-based car2go offer one-way carshare vehicles, which are picked up and dropped off in different locations and charged by the minute.

Since July 2016, Modo’s CEO is Patrick Nangle, former Purolator Courier executive.