Car-sharing co-op adds minivan to fleet
Standing next to OGO Car Share Co-op’s new minivan are, from left, co-op executive director Christian Brandt, Interior Savings Credit Union CEO Kathy Conway, Cheryl Miller of the Central Okanagan Foundation and Francis Langevin of the Okanagan Refugee Coalition.
Posted from Kelowna Daily Courier: Thursday, July 14, 2016 8:41 pm | Updated: 8:43 pm, Thu Jul 14, 2016.
With the addition of a minivan, OGO Car Share Co-op has virtually every type of vehicle on the streets.
“We wanted to have a vehicle larger families or groups could access to do errands or get places,” said OGO executive director Christian Brandt.
The new eight-passenger Kia minivan takes OGO’s vehicle count to 11, including a pickup truck, an electric car, three hybrids and five regular cars.
The minivan will be regularly stationed in the parking lot behind Interior Savings Credit Union’s main branch at the corner of Richter Street and Bernard Avenue.
The downtown location is not only convenient and central for co-op users, but is also a nod to the credit union’s support of OGO through the Interior Savings Credit Union Community Investment Fund.
“Interior Savings and OGO are co-operatives, owned by the people who live in this community,” said credit union CEO Kathy Conway.
“Affordable transportation can be a very real challenge for large families, and we hope this new addition will help with their transportation needs.”
The credit union worked with the Central Okanagan Foundation to buy the minivan at the local Kia dealership at a discount.
The minivan purchase was first considered after the car-share co-op asked the Okanagan Refugee Coalition what kind of vehicles it might need for the people it represents. The group is involved in helping Syrian refugee families transition to life in Kelowna.
“Syrian families tend to be bigger, so they need a minivan to get around,” said Brandt.
“The coalition has used co-op vehicles to drive Syrians around and we expect to have Syrian families as members.”
The credit union and foundation grants for OGO also allowed it to buy two child seats and two booster seats for use in any co-op vehicle.
Four of OGO’s vehicles are based in the City Hall parking lot and one each on Queensway Avenue, in South Pandosy, at Kelowna General Hospital, at the Landmark, at Parkinson Recreation Centre and at UBC Okanagan.
Co-op members can access the vehicles two ways.
A casual membership costs $25 a month. Whenever the driver uses a vehicle, he or she pays $2 or $4 an hour plus 40 cents per kilometre driven.
The co-op membership is $500, which is refunded when you leave OGO. The same hourly and per-kilometre charges apply.
Check out OGOCarShare.ca.
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