Celebrating 25 years
What started as a thesis project in Vancouver, two cars and a handful of members is now an impactful community of around 25,000 members who have established a carsharing network and culture in British Columbia.
Join us in looking back on the memories that make up twenty-five years of sharing the road and building better communities.
Providing a supportive carsharing service that allows members to embrace a multi-modal lifestyle and prioritize easy access to reliable, sustainable rides makes a big part of Modo but there’s nothing more rewarding than being part of our members’ lives and helping them connect to the world.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at the people, moments, adventures, successes, places, and cars that brought us from way back when to now. Send in the story behind your favourite Modo moment and a photo if you have one! We’ll reshare some of the stories here and on social media.
#ModoMoment
From The West End To Everywhere
The Co-operative Auto Network began in Vancouver in 1997 with Tracey Axelsson and 15 other members who decided to build the Co-operative Auto Network to promote carsharing as an environmentally responsible alternative to personal vehicle ownership. They wanted to instill the ethos of sharing into the organization and did so by incorporating their initial committee under the Co-operative Association Act of British Columbia, allowing all members to exercise their rights of shared ownership and democratic decision-making by voting in the election of the board of directors.
In 2011, after 14 years, the Co-operative Auto Network decided to rebrand. The new name, Modo, was chosen – an abbreviation of “multi-modal modern lifestyle”. The name change also accompanied geographic expansion, as Modo merged with the Victoria Car Share Society, the OGO Co-op in Kelowna and the Nanaimo Car-Sharing Coop.
Twenty-five years later, few things have changed. Still, the social purpose remains—a lifelong commitment to sharing with the community and an unrelenting desire to help members connect to the world in ways that are inclusive, affordable, sustainable and convenient…
That time when members used Modo to…
- go to their wedding
- rush to the hospital when in labour and bring baby home
- help their parents to move
- get around with 5 kids
- expand their delivery service
- learn how to drive
- do a road trip in the Canadian Rockies with an EV
