This article is part of a series of member profiles, revealing how car sharing improves our members' lives. Presenting our wonderful members, Patrick Mayne & Elizabeth Hendriks:
My fiancé and I recently moved from Ontario to Victoria to start our
careers and needless to say we were car-less. Although I really wanted
to buy a car for the sake of convenience, my whopping student debt
made me realize it wasn’t feasible. Student debt coupled with my
fiancé, the staunch environmentalist, who was opposed to buying a car
because of the environmental and economical costs of a car culture. We
had to find a compromise. We spent several months commuting to and
from work and all around the city by bike.
As Victoria “winter” began to set in, even the staunch
environmentalist was getting a bit weary of biking in the snow and
rain. We heard about the Victoria Car-Share Co-op and thought it
could be a short term solution to an ongoing “to buy a car or not”
discussion. It ended up being our saving grace and the perfect
compromise to our dilemma---wanting the freedom of having a car
without the ongoing costs and responsibilities of maintenance.
The Victoria Car Share Co-op has been a happy medium between owning
our own vehicle, renting a car and biking. Since we still enjoy the
many benefits of cycling as a mode of transportation and don’t need a
car that often the car share has met our needs. With cars available
near each of our workplaces, as well as where we live, a car is always
available to us. We can use it to run errands, get groceries, for
short trips and it is reliable and affordable for us.
Since we joined we have been very pleased with the VCSC and will
likely be members for some time to come!
Thanks VCSC for everything!
Patrick Mayne and Elizabeth Hendriks
Pictures by Keane Gruending
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