It has been a pleasure to see Manitobans coming together to flatten the curve, and flatten the curve we did! It’s exciting to see days go by without a single case. Flattening the curve means everyone doing their part, and that includes our Members.
With people staying in, we saw a significant decline in usage. In April our bookings fell by 50% compared to February. We anticipated and accepted that we would see a reduction in demand, which is why we made the difficult decision to remove cars from our fleet temporarily. Reducing our fleet size meant that our dedicated fleet team could do a better job washing and sanitizing our vehicles. As part of our efforts to clean more, we have added staff capacity to make sure everyone is as safe as possible. We are continuing with these efforts even as cases in Manitoba drop. To make sure our members are as comfortable as possible, we also introduced pre-sanitization for those who are at risk or making a booking for at least 24 hrs.
As the weather improves and we start to open up parts of the economy, we have seen an increase in demand. I want our members to know that we are aware of the rise in demand and have decided to hold off adding more cars until at least one full month from the end of lockdown. While we could see an increase in COVID-19 cases at any time, a month gives us enough assurance that there won’t be another spike in cases in the short-term. Based on the current demand level, we plan on re-introducing six of the eleven vehicles we put into storage. So long as we continue to see increased demand in June, we will continue to add more cars back.
The Peg City Car Co-op team is incredibly grateful to our members who have been understanding and patient as our social and economic landscape shifts. Rest assured we are doing our best to balance the Co-op’s fiscal health, with the needs of our membership. As the only carsharing company operating in Winnipeg, we want to assure our members that we are making decisions today to ensure that we can serve the community for many years to come. As a member-based co-op, our roots are in the community. Our purpose is to continue to strive to be a member-focused company that provides the best carsharing experience possible.
Thank you to our membership and community for making carsharing a reality in Winnipeg. We look forward to serving you now and into the future. Most of all, we can’t wait to add more cars back into service for our members to enjoy!
Take care and be well.
Philip Mikulec
Operations Manager
