CAA-Quebec has partnered with North American car sharing service Communauto to promote the many benefits of the practice to new drivers.

Under the partnership, students at CAA-Quebec’s four driving schools will be entitled to a free one-year Communauto membership once they receive their driver’s licence.

“Car sharing is definitely part of the solution when it comes to promoting sustainable mobility.”

“Young drivers are already an attractive demographic for awareness-raising, since they’re already partial to the concept of the sharing economy. So this partnership between Communauto and our Driving Schools is a natural one.” said Hamid Rekouane, director, Driving Schools, CAA-Quebec.

For more than a decade, young people have been gradually shifting away from the idea that motor vehicle ownership is a necessity. In the 1990s, 76% of people under 30 in the United States said they owned a car; today, that number has reduced to 69%.

“New consumer habits are emerging, with more and more people believing that using a product is more important than the fact of owning it. This explains the surge in popularity of car sharing in the past several years,” said Marco Viviani, director, Development and Public Relations, Communauto.

Car sharing practitioners use motor vehicles four times less often than people who own them; conversely, they choose cycling or public transit twice as often.