Carshare service to be suspended due to coronavirus outbreak

TORONTO – Enterprise Holdings Inc. says it will suspend its carsharing service starting Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The car rental agency says that its CarShare program will close indefinitely to “ensure the safety of our community.”

The service allows customers to remotely rent vehicles scattered about cities for short periods, making it difficult for the company to clean the cars between uses.

The company says the more standard Enterprise Rent-A-Car service is still operating as an essential service, though it has closed some locations because of lack of demand.

Other carshare programs including Communauto and Zipcar are so far still operating. They say they are cleaning the vehicles regularly but suggest users bring disinfectant wipes.

Enterprise’s CarShare program currently operates in the Ontario cities of Toronto, Mississauga, Oshawa and Waterloo.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2020.