What happened: ICBC grants insurance coverage to car-sharing platform
Why it matters: Turo’s entry into B.C. comes amid significant changes to the market
No more sitting in neutral for an American transportation company looking to merge into the B.C. market this summer.
San Francisco-based Turo Inc. revealed Thursday (May 28) ICBC has granted it insurance coverage to operate its peer-to-peer car-sharing platform within the province.
The company allows car owners to rent their own vehicles to other drivers in need of a ride temporarily.
This comes after Share Now, formerly Car2Go, announced in December it was exiting Vancouver and the rest of the North American market.
Competitor Modo followed up with the expansion of its own Vancouver fleet, adding 250 more vehicles.
Since then, other transportation services such as Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) and Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq:LYFT) have also made their way into B.C.
Unlike Share Now and Modo, Turo does not operate its own fleet.
Rather, it connects car owners with potential car renters.
The company has 35,000 cars listed in Canada along with 850,000 members who access the platform through an app to book a car.
Turo launched in Canada in 2016, expanding into Albert, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
However, insurance products equally covering both owners and renters did not allow the company to operate on the West Coast until now.
The nod from ICBC comes after Turo launched a pilot in the province in 2017 in partnership with car-rental companies.
“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,” Turo vice-president and head of Canadian operations Cedric Mathieu said in a statement.
The company says car owners earn an average of $620 per month renting their vehicles through the platform.
Drivers looking to rent will undergo what Turo describes as “extensive guest screenings.”
And amid the pandemic, the company says it’s instituted enhanced cleaning and disinfection guidelines for vehicles.
No exact launch date for the province has been announced, although the company said British Columbians can expect services to be available in the coming weeks.
