UBC’s plan for a vehicle-sharing program has been delayed because of the implementation of the U-Pass program. Carole Jolly, director of the TREK program, told the Georgia Straight that because U-Pass required a lot of staff time, the pilot vehicle-sharing initiative won’t be under way until the summer.

The Web site (www.trek.ubc.ca/) is ready to go, only the fleet is not yet registered and in place.

“The reason why we don’t have any [fleet vehicles] is we haven’t had the resources to pursue it, simply because we have been focused on getting the U-Pass program up and running,� Jolly said, speaking at the TREK office. “But it’s something we look forward to launching when we’ve got time to focus on it.�

Added Jolly: We’re a small operation that does a lot.�

The shared-vehicle program is a 12-month pilot that enables departments with existing vehicles to defray costs of ownership by sharing with other departments with no vehicles. Any UBC department can register.

“Summer is the opportune time for us to get this going, but first we have to have interested departments register their vehicles,� Jolly added. TREK has the support of the Vancouver Co-operative Auto Network (CAN), which will provide its on-line booking system for TREK to use.

Also supporting TREK’s vehicle-sharing program is former TREK director Gordon Lovegrove, now an assistant engineering professor in Kelowna at UBC’s Okanagan campus. “When I was there, we were looking at a total fleet of around 450 vehicles,â€? Lovegrove told the Straight. “I estimate you can reduce the fleet by one thirdâ€