Car2Go’s vehicles have rolled out of Toronto, but efforts continue to lure them back for 80,000 former Toronto customers, the Star has learned.Councillor Mike Layton, a Car2Go member until the international company announced in May its pullout over City of Toronto rules, is hopeful the “free-float” service — allowing users to pick up a car and leave it somewhere else — will roll back in.“I definitely think we’ll have a place we’ll be able to get on this and I’m encouraged the dialogue is still going on,” said Layton, who met with Car2Go officials last week. He wouldn’t say who else was present, but the Star confirmed an official from Mayor John Tory’s office participated.“Car2Go explained what they would need to see, and we’ll have to see if city council will go that far.”Council in May approved an 18-month pilot project starting June 1 to allow free-float car-share services to use residential streets as drop-off points, including those where people compete for on-street parking spots.Restrictions imposed by councillors included a ban on car-share parking on residential streets deemed to be at 95 per cent or more capacity for parking permits and where there are wait lists for permits.Also, councillors can veto such parking on streets in their wards. The new rules also require the services to pay $1,500 per vehicle for street parking permits, a fee Car2Go called the highest it has encountered in North America.Layton said Car2Go officials told him they want changes on the 95-per-cent threshold — increasing it to free up more streets for their cars — and also the councillor veto, which adds ongoing uncertainty to the coverage area and makes it difficult to plan how many vehicles to deploy. The downtown councillor has launched a petition for supporters of the service to sign, to put pressure on his fellow councillors and car-share companies to get a workable comprom ...
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