[sustran] intro

Tracey Axelsson axelt at axionet.com
Tue May 13 04:58:40 JST 1997


I think I've just added my name to the list - or I've been a member for a
while and haven't really participated.  So it's a good idea to say hi and
why I'm here.

I'me terribly new  to the sustainable transportation field.  I worked for
three years for the Fraser Basin Management Program - a inter-governmental +
inter-community organization which worked to support the sustainable
development of the Fraser River Basin in British Columbia Canada.  Through
my work their I got very close to a lot of water and forest related issues,
wrote tourism inventories (a hot sheet of environmental concerns to areas to
begin planning for eco-tourism type activities) for 3 major basins, wrote an
extensive timeline of aboriginal - non-aboriginal relations since contact
and slowly became keenly aware of metropolis issues as they figure in
sustainable development.  

During my work for this organization I undertook and completed a
Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Community Economic Development (CED) because I
beleive the power of the community has the ability to shape economic
development for the social, and environmental well-being of all.  CED has
many interesting applications in rural areas because it's mostly about
diversifying the labour pool and employment options in a given city.  But is
difficult to practise in urban areas because it's diverse already and the
community is more difficult to draw together.  

This is very true in my hometown - Vancouver. Yet over and over I hear
people unified in their transportation concerns.  So when I heard about car
sharing, I put CED and the demand for a sustainable transportation answer
and founded the Co-operative Auto Network - or CAN for short.   For those
that have never heard about us, CAN is a not-for-profit co-operative
designed to promote car sharing as an economically beneficial and
environmentally-responsible transportation option to private car ownership.
Car sharing is an organized system of shared car ownership,  access and
cost, in a 1-car-to-10 person ratio.  It enhances both the social and
economic well-being of the individual and the community.

I've prepared this rationale for people to quickly become familiar with this
concept:


Car sharing:  the reason

Premise A:	The rapid increase in car numbers and vehicular kilometres
travelled (VKT) with their social, economic and environmental costs are
heavily taxing our communities, cities and planet.

Premise B:	Many people recognize Premise A but persist in owning a car
because of those times when they really need one.  These are times when
cost, access, convenience and time considerations make any other option
undesirable or impossible.

Premise C:	When people persist in owning a car, they will use it - and will
either use it to the exclusion of alternatives or at least far more than the
availability and utility of alternatives would require. 

Therefore:	If we supply people with what they need in a system which will
mitigate against frivolous use and abuse, the individual will be satisfied
and the community will be spared the social, economic and environmental costs.

With car sharing we recognize the need to drive while we work to eliminate
dependence. Car sharing provides a low cost 'carrot' for people to access
cars, while providing a self-modulated 'stick' to eliminate auto-dependency.
This is the operating principle of the Co-operative Auto Network - or CAN.

Co-operative Auto Network:  the rationale

The truth of the loosely-formed syllogism above is not much more than common
sense.  The alternatives don't do the whole job and once money has been
invested to purchase a vehicle the buyer will tend to feel compelled to use
it.  People will use a car or the alternatives - rarely both.  Further,
there is a suggestion that it is cheaper to drive.  The economics of auto
ownership as it now stands reinforces the separation of car costs into two
realms:  the cost of owning and the cost of using.  This means after
financing the sticker price, buying insurance, tires, and parking, plus
paying any maintenance bills, the owner dissociates these expenses and
thinks getting to the hockey game will cost only the gas to get there and
parking if he can't find a free spot.  This construct is entirely false but
once the car is "paid for" it often seems to people that driving isn't as
costly as taking the bus - and they do the trip in half the time.  So using
the car for every transport need becomes the economically-reinforced norm,
rather than the mode of last resort.

With car sharing through CAN, we answer the need for the occasional use of a
car while we restate the psycho-economic relationship of car use.  We have
reversed the economic argument.  CAN makes it cheap to "purchase" a
nice-looking car which is convenient and maintenance-free.  Then we make
every kilometre driven and every hour used have a cost.  This works to limit
VKT's and completely eliminate many trips.  The Co-operative Auto Network
opens the door to practical alternatives to the car's overuse and encourages
its members to walk or cycle, and take the bus or a taxi more.


====================

CAN is working on etending the boundaries of car sharing in Vancouver
already.  To find out more go to our website http://eagletree.com/think/can/

Thanks for reading this long e-mail and for continuing my education of
transportation related issues - I value the learning opportunity this
list_serv affords me though I rarely participate in discussion.

Cheers,  Tracey!
Tracey Axelsson  Executive Director
CAN Co-operative Auto Network     P.O. Box 47044, Denman   Vancouver, BC
V6G 3E1
*****Tel/Fax  685-1393   axelt at axionet.com      www.eagletree.com/think/can/



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