Toronto Delays car2go Parking Program

The Toronto City Council declined to approve a pilot program for car2go, a free-floating carsharing service. The pilot program would provide 2,000 permits that would allow vehicles to use permit parking spots for a year.

Toronto City Council members expressed concerns that the permits would give limited parking space to carsharing services at the expense of private car-owners. The permits would cost $1,500 each, with a 500-permit limit per company. The estimated revenue from the permits was about $1 million.

Following the deferral of the program, car2go CEO Paul DeLong sent an email to its members in Toronto, saying that the service will re-examine its operations in the city.

Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton says he supports car2go's efforts, but moved to defer the proposal.

"If we vote on it and it fails, it's gone for a year. We don't open it up again, the decision stands until the next term at council, 2019," he said. Instead, Layton hopes councillors will approve the program in April or May after further consideration.

car2go's free-floating program allows customers to return vehicles in designated areas around the city, instead of where they rented them. The service has operated in Toronto for over five years and is also available in Hamburg, Germany and New York City.