Car Sharing Stories: Mikako Nantais-Tajiri & Simon Nantais

This article is part of a series of member profiles, revealing how car sharing improves our members' lives. Presenting our wonderful members, Mikako Nantais-Tajiri and Simon Nantais:

In Canada, my wife and I have always lived in convenient locations, close to school and work. We have never owned a car because we could always walk, bike, or take the bus to the majority of places we needed to go. We joined the cooperative because with a new baby in the family, our lifestyle has changed. We need to manage our time more efficiently. While we could leisurely walk or take the bus to the local stores, my wife and I now use a cooperative car to complete our various errands in a single block of time, once or twice a week.
We like the cooperative a lot because there are four different cars within a five-minute walk from our Family Housing apartment. We can choose a vehicle that bests suits the needs of the day’s use. When I recently picked up my wife and baby daughter from the airport, I could use the Kia Sedona minivan which had ample room to fit two suitcases, a baby stroller, and friends who came to greet them at the airport. When we shop for baby furniture, the Kia Rio station wagon has lots of room to store things in the back. When we run basic errands around town, we can use either the Toyota Yaris or Corolla.
We still enjoy walking to our local stores and discovering the Cadboro Bay neighbourhood. Joining the cooperative, however, gives us peace of mind and the ability to complete our shopping around town at an affordable price.

Simon Nantais



Pictures by Keane Gruending