pro tip: pets

Modo member care manager Shawna Sanderson offers this month’s Pro Tip.

Modo members love their pets! So we want to make sure they're safe and transported in pet carriers, like this:

Unfortunately, we sometimes get reports of pets Modo’ing like this:

Besides being unsafe – and against Modo member rules - allowing pets to ride without a carrier leads to messes, like this:

Which can be inconvenient and a nuisance for the next member, resulting in a hefty fine. In addition to using a pet carrier, consider packing a lint roller for any stray pet hair. 

Thanks for cleaning up after your furry friend and maintaining a carefree carsharing experience for all Modo members! - Shawna

update: no show policy

As of June 1, 2013, the updated charge for No Shows will be 100% of the original hourly charge plus a $10 fine. Previously, the charge was 200% of the original hourly charge. For an explanation of this change, such as "Why?", see our blog.

It's always cheaper to cancel your booking as soon as you realize you don't need it, reminds Modo information systems director Karen New. You can cancel a booking at no charge within five minutes of making it, or more than 12 hours before the booking starts. Otherwise, you'll risk paying up to 50% of the time charge for any part of your booking within the next 12 hours, and up to 100% for any part of your booking that's already started. 

Remember, sharing works best when we're respectful of each other's needs - which includes making sure cars are available when we don't need them ourselves.

commute with TEAM MODO!

We did it! With another soggy winter behind us and longer days of mild temps and dreamy sunsets ahead, it’s time to get movin’! And we’re psyched to invite you to join TEAM MODO for two fun, prize-filled weeks of sustainable commuting!

First up, May 27-June 2, the 2013 Spring edition of HUB’s biannual Bike To Work Week! (Remember when TEAM MODO won last year?!) Then, the following week, June 2-8, join us as we walk, cycle, transit, ride-share, carshare (or even work from home) as part of BC Commuter Challenge, presented by BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation).

Both events are free and offer opportunities for prizes, tips and new friends! Find registration details and more information on the Modo blog.

'share the road' shirts for sale

Find purchase details on the Modo blog.

modo says yes! to summer camp

The YES is a summer co-operative leadership camp that provides week-long retreats for teenagers from across BC. The camp focuses on areas of self-awareness, co-operation, communication and global awareness with fun activities, like hiking and canoeing, that emphasize wilderness training and environmental stewardship. The YES builds a strong foundation of co-operative skills and values for leaders of tomorrow.

Every year, Modo sponsors two spots to The YES Camp. (Pictured at right: Annika shows off a couple handfuls of Thank You cards we've received from campers.) We sponsor members’ children first and foremost – but other family members will be considered! Nominate your youth to be sponsored: email annika@modo.coop by May 17, 2013. Find dates and details here.

Note to parents: we’ve noticed that the more excited you are about the camp, the less the kids want to go. So be cool, folks!

sharing economy in the media

Breaking News: Sharing works! Over the past month, we’ve seen a surge in media coverage of collaborative consumption models around the world, including several stories featuring Modo and its Community Partners right here in Vancouver. Like what you read or think there’s more to the story? Post comments, write letters to the editor and let media know how sharing works for you.

GlobalNews BC: City hall commissions study of sharing habits of Vancouverites

Vancouver Observer: Modo sets up new Sharing Station at Farmers Market

National Post: Vancouver at forefront of sharing revolution

Georgia Straight: Vancouver’s car-share programs offer plenty of choice

Queen of Green blog (via David Suzuki Foundation): Can I borrow your… sharing economy? 

Spacing: Modo launches Sharing Station at the Vancouver Winter Farmers Market with local community partners, April 6

community calendar

Apr 30 – MEC Club Night, Vancouver

BEST, HUB and Mountain Equipment Co-op members receive 10% off all regularly priced items – from bikes to boats - from 7-9pm, at the MEC Vancouver location (130 West Broadway). Go online to become a member of BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation) and HUB (formerly the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition).

May 2 – Community Transit Forum: What’s Next, Broadway?, Vancouver – FREE
A lively open discussion on the future of the Broadway corridor, hosted by the AMS at UBC-Vancouver. Attend in person at the Hollywood Theatre (3123 West Broadway) or tune in via livestream at makeyourmarkubc.ca. Follow along via Twitter hashtag #bctranspo. Tickets

May 3-12 – DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Vancouver
Modo is proud transportation sponsor of the 12th annual documentary film festival, which features 10 days of some of the best documentaries from around the world, across Canada and your own backyard. With 74 screenings, five venues and dozens of opportunieis to engage in discussion with panelists and filmmakers. Tickets and schedule

*** CONTEST: As official Transportation Sponsor to DOXA, Modo is pleased to be able to offer members a chance to win tickets for you and a friend to The Human Scale, presented by Modo on Sunday, May 5 at 5:45pm, with panelists Andrew Pask (Vancouver Public Spaces Network) and Sam Sullivan (former mayor of Vancouver). 

To enter, simply email marketing@modo.coop (subject: "Contest: DOXA - Human Scale") by 12pm, Thursday, May 2. Three winners will be chosen at random.

May 4 – Intro to Woodworking with Hand Tools Workshop, Vancouver
Woodworking with hand tools is a more contemplative process that brings you closer to the wood and allows you to better understand the material being worked. Vancouver Tool Library shop manager Geof Vincent will introduce participants to the basic tools needed for working wood by hand and demonstrate proper use. Register online or at the shop at 3448 Commercial Street. $20 for VTL members/$25 for the public.

May 5 – Rain Barrels for Better: A Community Workshop, Vancouver – FREE
This community fundraiser for The World In a Garden features a rain barrel auction, rain water harvesting workshops, food from Happy Planet and more, live music, custom rain barrels by local artists and guest speakers at East Blvd at West 57th Ave. Details

May 9 – In The House Festival’s 10th Anniversary Fundraising Gala, Vancouver
Join East Van stalwart, and Modo Community Partner, In the House Festival for an evening of music, dance, circus and magic by local performance artists, with libations and nibbles, two chocolate fountains, and a silent auction. Tickets

May 10–Jun 8 – Background / ThisPlace, grunt gallery, Vancouver – FREE

Modo is proud transportation sponsor for a photography exhibition and retrospective exploring the people and sites that Vancouver, then and now. The collaborative project is based on Background / Vancouver, a photo-mapping expedition of Vancouver by Michael de Courcy, Taki Bluesinger, Gerry Gilbert and Glenn Lewis that took place on October, 30 1972. Fourty year later, to the day, Vancouver artists Emilio Rojas, Guadalupe Martinez and Igor Santizo revisited the project, forging a new, fourth path that intersects with the original paths and revisits ideas about Vancouver’s identity and history. The retrospective project is entitled ThisPlace / Vancouver. The original used three different routes, in three different vehicles; the retrospective uses a single route in a single (Modo) vehicle. Details and schedule of talks

May 11 – 18th annual Stone Soup Festival: Connecting Our Local Food Community, Vancouver – FREE
Britannia Community Centre hosts the 18th Annual Stone Soup Festival, a celebration of food, art, environment and community, including a food market, local artists, community groups, talks and workshops, live music, tea leaf reading, children’s activities, free soup and more! Details
 

May 11 – Trout Lake Farmers Market season open
Open Saturdays 9-2pm through October 19, find the market in the 
North Parking Lot of John Hendry Park at Trout Lake, between Templeton and Lakewood, south of the 13th Avenue. Details




May 12 – Kitsilano Farmers Market season open

Open Sundays 10-2pm through October 20, find the market at
 2690 Larch Street at 10th Avenue, in the parking lot of Kitsilano Community Centre. Details


May 25 – Places That Matter, Vancouver
Join John Atkin on a bike tour of Places That Matter sites to see and hear about plaques that have been installed around the city. The tour, hosted by Vancouver Heritage Foundation, starts at Canada Place and stops in Strathcona, False Creek, and Fairview Slopes, heading over the Burrard Street Bridge before concluding at Robson Square. The ride, from 1-3pm, will be comfortable for intermediate level cyclists familiar with city cycling and is not recommended for children. Details and tickets 

modo moves

Vancouver - West End

LOCATION CHANGE: 510 Nicola > Coal Harbour Community Centre

We no longer have a car at 510 Nicola. Instead, the 2012 blue Nissan Versa sedan (#376) can be found as a second car at Coal Harbour Community Centre.

UPGRADE: Mole Hill Thurlow

A 2013 red Toyota Prius C (#454) has replaced the 2005 Toyota Echo. (Say buh-bye to our last Echo!)

UPGRADE: Santana

A 2012 red Nissan Versa hatch (#430) has replaced 2008 Toyota Matrix.

SHUFFLE + NEW LOCATION: Horizon > 1176 Burnaby 

Horizon used to have two cars (a 2011 Toyota Corolla and a 2012 Nissan Versa) but now has just one car (a 2012 blue Nissan Juke, Car #450) and we've added a new location nearby. Find "1176 Burnaby" (a 2012 grey Mazda 2, Car #449) behind 1176 Burnaby Street, between Thurlow and Bute; park in stall 25, in front of the Modo sign. (We're hoping that this shuffle distributes our cars south of Davie a bit more evenly.)

CAR CHANGE: Broughton Towers

Now find a 2007 blue Chrysler Town & Country (#237) with integrated child seats. (This is one of four vehicles in our fleet with integrated child seats.)

Vancouver - Marpole

UPGRADE: Marine Drive Station

A 2013 blue Dodge Avenger (#447) has replaced a 2005 Mazda 5.

Vancouver - Hastings-Sunrise

NEW LOCATION: Burrard View Park

Find a 2010 red Nissan Sentra (#354) in the 500 block of North Slocan Street, between Trinity and Yale Streets; park just south of Yale, next to Burrard View Park on either side of the street. 

Vancouver - Grandview-Woodland

NEW LOCATION / UPGRADE: Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain

As we announced last month, there is now a full-size Ford Econoline cargo van (#433) at Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain, replacing the minivan-sized cargo van at E 10th & Commercial. This is a premium vehicle, and its bookings are subject to our premium rates; for details, see http://www.modo.coop/rates/individual or http://www.modo.coop/rates/business.

UPGRADE: Commercial Street Café

A 2013 red Toyota Corolla (#456) has replaced the 2010 Nissan Sentra.

LOCATION CHANGE: Watershed Co-op > Mergatroid Building

Watershed Co-op location has been abandoned and the vehicle upgraded to a minivan and moved northwest four blocks to the Mergatroid Building.  

Vancouver - Strathcona

NEW LOCATION: Mergatroid Building

Located by the green building at 975 Vernon Drive on the corner of Parker Street, the vehicle is one block southwest of Venables and Clark, and home to many artist studios and the Purple Thistle Centre. We have a designated Modo stall, and have placed a 2008 green Dodge Caravan (#237) with full stow-and-go seating, so that members in the local artist studios can more easily transport their work. (Please remember to return all seats to the upright position, every time, for the next member.)

NEW LOCATION: Fire Hall 1

A 2009 red Nissan Cube (#349) is located just south of Vancouver Fire Hall #1, near the curve where Atlantic Street becomes Heatley Avenue.  Park on the southeast side of the street, as close to the fire hall as you can.  

UPGRADE: Keefer

A 2011 blue Toyota Corolla (#369) has replaced the 2009 Nissan Cube.

Vancouver - Kitsilano

UPGRADE: Walnut

A 2013 silver Toyota Corolla (#457) has replaced the 2009 Pontiac Vibe.

Vancouver - South Granville

LOCATION CHANGE: Alder & W 10th

We have abandoned this location.

MINOR UPGRADE: Skyline

A 2009 grey Pontiac Vibe (#275) has replaced the 2008 Toyota Yaris.

Vancouver - Mount Pleasant

UPGRADE: Picasso

A 2013 red Toyota Prius C (#454) has replaced the 2003 Mazda Protege.

LOCATION CHANGE + NEW CAR: Kingsgate Mall

After several years hovering just east of the mall, our Kingsgate Mall location now has two designated stalls in the mall parking lot to accommodate our truck (#294) plus a second vehicle, a 2013 white Nissan Versa sedan (#435)! Find them in the southwest (upper) parking lot of Kingsgate Mall, at the corner of Kingsway and East 10th Avenue.

North Vancouver

LOCATION CHANGE: NV School Board

Our permanent parking spots for NV School Board have been installed! Find two designated Modo parking stalls on Lonsdale Avenue, on the southwest corner of West 22nd Street, right in front of the North Vancouver School Board offices.

LOCATION CHANGE: NV Rodger Burns Green

We have abandoned this location, relocating the green Toyota Matrix about a block away to join the brown Nissan Cube at NV School Board.