I did’t know what to talk about on the blog so Chris suggested I do a cost analysis for our minivan. I can do that!

Trip	Frequency	Km per year	Alternative
Skiing	130km 15 times per year	1,950 km	car share
Spinning, hockey and fitness classes	30km twice per week	3,120 km	Car pool and car share
Grocery shopping	10km once per week	520 km	Bike, car share
General shopping	40km once per month	480 km	Bus, bike, car share
Visiting (Montreal etc…)	400km once every two months plus 40km per month	2,640 km	Car share
Vacations	1200km once per year and 600km three times per year	4,800 km	car share, car rental
Kids activities in bad weather	5km once per week for 20 weeks	100 km	Snowsuits!
Total		13,710 km

With this mileage, and not including the cost of the van itself, the yearly price tag for operating our van, including gas, insurance and maintenance is $5,300. The same trips with VRTUCAR car share would set us back about $6,000. Apart from the cost, the closest depot is in Britannia which would be quite a trip to make twice a week.

Overall, with our current trip frequency, and the fact that every once in a while we do use a van in a way we just could not use a car (like talking the whole family and all our bikes somewhere) car share is not attractive at all.

On the other hand, getting rid of the second car and switching both of our work commutes to bike/bus combination saves us well over $1,000 per year amongst all other benefits.