Minimum driving age drops to 21!

Community CarShare is now able to accept drivers as young as 21 years old as CarShare members. Before, only drivers as young as 23 were able to join, which was frustrating for young people interested in carsharing.

“I first looked into carsharing several months ago and was disappointed to hear about the minimum age, so this is a very exciting development for me,” said Sand Moshi, the co-op’s first 21-year old driver, and a student at the University of Waterloo.

“I think this will be popular for many students because a lot of us are on a budget, but with CarShare we can get occasional car usage at low cost,” he said. “I’ve already booked a few trips and can’t wait to see more of the region now that I have car access.”

With Community CarShare now insuring younger drivers, more university students and young people will be able to choose sustainable modes such as cycling and transit more often, since a car will be available to them when they need one.

“Young people are getting licensed at an older age than they have for decades, and are simply not as interested in vehicle ownership,” said Jason Hammond, president. “With this lower age restriction for CarShare drivers, many of today’s youth may never own a car.”

When the co-op first launched in 1998 drivers had to be at least 25 years old, and in 2006 the minimum age was lowered to 23. The age requirement for driving CarShare vehicles is set by the co-op’s insurance company.