Avid cyclist Ryan Whyte can’t wait to hit the trails this summer.
Lynn Canyon, Deer Lake Park, Golden Ears Provincial Park — there are very few places the East Vancouver resident can’t access now that Evo has expanded its Home Zone to include the City of North Vancouver, Metrotown, Capilano University, SFU, and BCIT.
“It’s very exciting,” he says. “I immediately messaged my girlfriend to tell her…you can go hike or bike and have a car waiting for you when you get back.”
Whyte, who doesn’t own his own vehicle, has been an Evo Member since the car sharing company launched last year, and has previously used it for big grocery runs and moving trips.
But now, he's looking forward to using Evo to commute to work at BCIT on rainy days and for all kinds of outdoor adventures, no longer limited to central Vancouver.
“Definitely them having the bike racks is a selling feature for us,” he says, referencing Evo’s spacious, four-door cars.
The expansion means Ryan and his girlfriend can book a car in East Van using the Evo App on their smartphone which now includes a handy reservation countdown timer, directions to the nearest car or parking location, and the ability to check your minutes and billing right from the App.
They can then drive to an area within the new Home Zone, drop off the car and bike to great destinations in North Van, Burnaby and beyond.
The vehicles — instantly recognizable by their black and blue design — also include ski racks, plenty of trunk space, and what Whyte describes as a “great sound system.”
“We’ll put our bikes on the roof to get to wherever we’re going,” he explains, “then maybe go for a bike ride and put them back on the roof on the way back. Being able to get closer to nature is great.”
North Vancouver resident Tracey O'Haggarty is a new Evo Member and can't wait to take her family on a lengthy bike trip in North Vancouver. Photo by Elizabeth McSheffrey.
An awesome addition to your transportation toolkit
Evo announced the expansion of its boundaries at the beginning of June, along with a large addition to its fleet of hybrids.
It was icing on the cake for North Vancouver resident Tracey O’Haggarty, who signed up as soon as she heard the good news.
Unlike Whyte, O’Haggarty is a vehicle owner, but like Whyte, she is an avid cyclist.
The car she shares with her partner doesn’t have a bike rack however, and with a young child at home, long bicycle trips haven’t really been an option for them. Now, she plans to throw their bikes on the rack and their little one in the back for rides around North Vancouver, Stanley Park and UBC.
“It opens up the opportunity for adventure in our lives — hiking and biking,” she says happily. “It’s something to have in your tool kit that’s right there. It makes my life easier.”
“And, I’ve already used it three times so far within North Van, just heading home from the hair salon and to the night market, and once in Vancouver in between appointments,” she says. “It was fabulous.”
As an added bonus, she says Evo gives drivers a “taste of the hybrid life,” encouraging them to go cleaner and greener in their daily commute.
Evo Car Share now has 750 vehicles available throughout the region, with added pick-up and drop-off locations at Metrotown and three more student campuses. In North Vancouver in particular, the Home Zone now extends from 24th Street on the north side all the way south to the water, as far west as Forbes Avenue and east to Ridgeway Avenue.
SFU business student Julene Munro is a brand new Evo Car Share Member. She signed up when she saw Evo cars in the SFU parking lot. Photo by Elizabeth McSheffrey.
A resource for students
And a cleaner commute is especially important to Simon Fraser University business student Julene Munro, who likes to "live greenly" along with her husband.
The couple lives on the SFU campus on Burnaby Mountain, and signed up as soon as they saw a set of Evo cars in the parking lot near their building.
"Car sharing is one of those ways we can make it better," she says from her sunny apartment, “and I really value the fee system because being a student is expensive.”
Evo charges users $0.41 per minute, $14.99 per hour, or a flat rate of $89.99 per day (with a per-kilometre rate of $0.45 after 200 kilometres). Gas, insurance, and parking are included and there are no monthly membership costs or other hidden fees. And BCAA Members save 10 per cent on Evo rates.
Life on Burnaby Mountain can be "secluded" at times, says Munro, and becoming an Evo Member "opens up the rest of the city."
“My husband and I love to be outdoors," she explains. "We have snowboards, we have bikes and it just doesn’t fit on his car, but with Evo it’s easy to get around and we can go do trails, because I don’t like biking up this hill.”
And like Whyte and O'Haggarty, the cyclist already has her route mapped out, with eyes on a park in South Surrey and Barnston Island, in between Surrey and Langley.
"You take an Evo car from SFU Burnaby, load the bikes on the roof, then drive to Surrey Bend Regional Park where you can park the car for a day trip stopover.
From there, you hop on the ferry to the island," she says eagerly. "go bike around for a couple of hours and come back."
"I’m really looking forward to it."
Join today and get free membership + 30 free mins of drive time.