This week, university student David Lee showed up for his frosh activities in a Mazda 3 hatchback. Last week, he helped friends move into residence with a pickup truck. And last month, his car of choice was a Toyota Matrix.

Lee, a 23-year-old engineering science student at the University of Toronto, wouldn't normally have the chance, or the funds, to drive a fleet of cars around the city. But as a member of Zipcar car-sharing service, he's getting that chance for a good price.

Autoshare and Zipcar provide car-sharing services. (Courtesy of Autoshare and Zipcar)

Lee recently signed up for Zipcar — which promises quick, convenient, and cost-friendly access to vehicles — by default because local competitor Autoshare requires members to be at least 25 years old.

Lee fits the profile of a typical Zipcar user — he's young, educated, lives and works in the city and doesn't own a car. This week, Zipcar announced a partnership with the University of Toronto, giving students and faculty a discounted rate of membership, along with access to a range of cars parked right on campus.

"Students just finishing, or just out of school in Toronto, have some income and are living the urban life," Zipcar chief executive officer Scott Griffith said. "But they are on the margins economically, so this becomes a real attractive way to get freedom to get out of the city if they want to, without owning a car."

To attract more young clients like Lee, Toronto-based Autoshare will be lowering their minimum membership age to 23 starting Oct. 1.

Competition welcomed

A turf war between U.S.-based Zipcar and home-grown Autoshare is brewing in the city, but both companies say the competition is only helping their businesses grow. Each service requires an upfront membership fee that allows users to reserve cars by phone or on the Internet. Reservations can be made days or even just minutes in advance. Drivers pick up their cars, parked at a predetermined location and are charged by the hour.

Zipcar's basic service involves a $30 application fee and a $55 annual fee, while Autoshare charges a one-time $250 deposit, $100 membership fee and $25 annual fee. But AutoShare is cheaper per hour: $9.50 compared with Zipcar's $11. Gas, parking and insurance are covered in the membership fees with both companies and a variety of packages are available, depending on how much or little a member drives.

Members say they prefer car-sharing as opposed to traditional rent-a-car services because they don't need to fill out forms or make their way to a rental office. Advocates also say car-sharing, which has grown in popularity around the world thanks to rising gas, insurance and parking expenses, provides users with a sustainable, eco-friendly means of transportation.

Zipcar and Autoshare provide new and well-maintained vehicles ranging from pickup trucks and Prius hybrids to more stylish cars like the Mazda 3, Volvo 340 and the most popular Mini Cooper.

"People see it as a unique opportunity to drive a car they might not be able to purchase on their own," Griffith said. "If you have a hot date or a business lunch where they have to drive someone, a Volvo or Mini sometimes comes in handy for that."

Faster growth

Lee agrees, after a dinner-and-movie date one August night could have come to a soggy end if not for Zipcar.

"My girlfriend and I came out of the movie theatre and it was raining really hard," he said. "So I used my phone and made a reservation for a Mazda 3 nearby."

Lee said he was able to drive his date home and avoid walking in the rain.

Since Zipcar arrived in Toronto in May, Griffith said it has signed up 1,100 members and has 100 cars in 45 locations across the city. That's faster growth than in any of the 11 cities Zipcar already operates in, including New York, Boston and San Francisco.

"We've been pleasantly surprised how popular the concept has become so quickly," Griffith said. "We're finding Torontonians have a stronger bias toward trying car sharing; moreso than their urban counterparts in the States. I suppose the values toward green initiatives are stronger here."

Still, Zipcar's growth in Toronto lags behind local company AutoShare, founded in 1998 by a handful of Torontonians.

Today, president Kevin McLaughlin said it has more than 3,000 members and 125 cars in more than 75 locations.

'Better than we hoped for

"Before [Zipcar] launched, there's always anxiety when someone clearly has access to more money," McLaughlin admitted. "But we're growing much faster and doing much better than we hoped for since Zipcar arrived."

Ultimately, both companies have reported unprecedented growth thanks to the healthy competition. And consumers say having a choice makes them more comfortable with the concept of car-sharing in general.

Classic Autoshare clients are typically a little older than Zipcar members. They are usually in their 30s and early 40s and are also well-educated, said McLaughlin.

"They're smart enough to realize that they don't need to own a car," he said, "and that Autoshare can save them a lot of money."

Carla Palmer, a 35-year-old marketing manager in Toronto, sold her car last year and decided to rely on car-sharing instead.

"It just didn't make sense to have a vehicle anymore," she said. "My lease was up, I live and work downtown and parking and insurance was getting really expensive."

On-street parking project

Palmer, who signed up for Autoshare in January, said she uses car-sharing at least once a week, costing her an average of $200 a month as she takes a car to run errands, do her grocery shopping and drive to her favourite destination, IKEA.

"It's way better than owning your own car," she said. "You don't have to deal with maintenance, parking or insurance."

McLaughlin, who owns about two-thirds of Autoshare, said he has been able to take home a paycheque the past couple of years. The company is working on a pilot project in which Autoshare cars could be placed in on-street parking spots throughout the city.

While it will likely take Zipcar 18 to 24 months to turn a profit in Toronto, Griffith said the market has yet to peak, with "hundreds of thousands" of potential car-sharing users still out there. For months, Zipcar has blanketed Toronto with advertising on public transit, billboards and flyers handed out on street corners.

"The more noise they make, the more people start investigating car sharing," said Autoshare's McLaughlin, who admitted there was one drawback to facing such competition.

"Parking costs have shot up in the city," he said. Car-sharing services must pay parking lot owners to reserve designated spots for their vehicles.

"We have a lot in Riverdale where we were paying $80 a spot. Zipcar showed up and offered $500 without even asking how much the guy wanted."

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