B.C. car share companies say they are addressing garbage, but some riders report overflowing trash

Although car shares can be a great option for getting around Metro Vancouver, some users are voicing frustrations after getting into what they describe as disgustingly dirty and nauseatingly smelly vehicles.

People looking for a more eco-friendly ride or those looking to avoid paying the price of maintaining a vehicle often favour the ridesharing option, but some say it may not be a pleasant experience.

In a reddit post that has since been deleted, users comment that many of the cars don’t have that ‘new-car-smell.’

“The previous driver had rolled the windows up tight and dropped a massive, pungent fart in there before ending their trip. Perfectly sealing it in for the next unsuspecting victim,” one user posted.

“This happened to me yesterday!!! Got in and it was 100 per cent farted-up,” another added.

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On top of the gassy odors, other user reports include cars smelling like vomit or the inside of a restaurant.

“Went into [an] Evo that smelled like McDonalds (sic), had fries everywhere, and a bunch of long black hairs stuck where the headliner and sunroof met. Evo’s (sic) are nasty!” one comment reads.

But a spokesperson for Evo says in a statement that it is taking steps to keep garbage out of its cars.

“It happens and it’s frustrating, but we are taking steps to reduce it. We have increased the cleaning of the interior of Evos, particularly in the winter months to protect members during cold and flu season,” Sara Holland with the service said.

FILE – Evo car share. (CityNews Image)

“We’ve upped our cleaning. All Evos are on a cleaning schedule. However, there is functionality on that Evo app that allows users to report garbage/dirty Evos. Those will get a priority status for cleaning.”

Evo says if a car is too dirty to drive, crews will take the vehicle to get it cleaned up.

“If that happens, we will send a cleaning crew to take the Evo out of service while they remove the garbage/clean,” Holland said.

Evo users can also get fines ranging from $50 to $150 for leaving garbage behind, but Holland says this happens infrequently, about once per month.

“We ask Evo users to report dirty cars through the app or, if it’s excessive, press the “Help” button in the Evo to get it taken out of service for cleaning,” Holland added.

Local sees increase in garbage

But veteran ride-share user Alexis Birks says she’s seen an increase in dirty cars over the last six years.

Birks says she uses Evo cars roughly twice a week, and the cleanliness of the cars has gotten progressively worse.

“It started off with like, a couple pieces of garbage here and there,” she said. “Over the course of the past few years, it’s increased to…garbage in the wheel wells and on the seats. There’ll be old McDonald’s orders left behind with Red Bull cans, and dog hair, and mud, and it’s just gotten a lot worse,” Birks said.

“There’s a lot more garbage than there used to be.”

Birks says that because she works in such a busy area of the city, there aren’t other cars for her to take if she reported it.

“I work down in Olympic Village, it’s busy down here, so my choices for Evos is the one that’s there,” she explained.

“You just end up taking the car. I suck it up, accept that my coat is going to get really, really dirty, and I’m probably going to have to do the laundry when I get home because I’ve been covered in dog hair, other hair, whatever else is…in the car.”

Although she says she doesn’t see garbage all the time, she says it is a frequent occurrence.

Birks adds that she is continually reporting cars to ensure she doesn’t get slapped with fines for garbage that’s not hers.

“I tell Evo about the issues when I have them because I’m afraid somebody’s going to try and tell me that I left that food in there, that I left the garbage in there.”

But she’s not sure if the reports are making a difference.

“I’ve reported them probably about a dozen or two times now,” she said. “I don’t know if it ever goes anywhere…The staff seem to want to do something, but I don’t see a whole lot of action.”

She adds that checking the cars more could help with the issue.

“There has to be more than just me complaining, there has to be. I can’t imagine that this is an issue that Evo doesn’t know about,” she said.

“It’s just the nature of a community carshare”

Jane Hope with Modo carshare says although they haven’t seen an increase in garbage, some trash can still get left behind in the vehicles.

Hope says the cars are regularly cleaned and checked, but adds riders are also responsible for helping report dirty vehicles. She reminds users that everyone is responsible for cleaning up after themselves.

“Our members really take an active role in making sure that the car is left clean for the next person,” she said. However, she admits finding some garbage comes with sharing vehicles.

“We certainly do find, sometimes, trash in our vehicles. It’s just the nature of having a community carshare.”

Before getting in a Modo car, Hope says riders are asked to fill out a report of the state they found the vehicle in.

“Every member is asked to report on the cleanliness of the vehicle before they start riding. They’re asked to submit a damage report,” she explained.

A file photo of a Modo car-sharing vehicle and driver. (Credit: modo.coop/)

Hope says if riders find that a car is very dirty and subsequently report it, the car is taken off the docket and cleaned.

“If a member does find a vehicle that’s exceptionally dirty, they just communicate in via email or phone or our app, and we booked the car off and send out our fleet team to get it cleaned right away,” she told CityNews.

She adds there is round-the-clock support and adds the company will find a person another car if they are unable to take a vehicle due to its uncleanliness.

If a car is found “excessively dirty” Hope says riders can get up to a $300 fine. However, she says it’s rare that people would be kicked off of the service.

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“Repeated behavior that is challenging will lead to communication from us about the standards we expect because we are a member-owned co-op and we all have standards that we share. But usually after one incident, it’s not a cause for someone to be banned from the service. They would get a warning,” she said.

How often the cars are checked and cleaned depends on factors like what the car is being used for. Hope says if people book them for overnight trips, cars get serviced beforehand.

“These cars are checked regularly, and that’s dependent on seasonality, like what the car is being used for,” she said.

Meanwhile, Birks says she is working at getting her car fixed so that she doesn’t have to rely on car-shares anymore.

“It’s not just from the garbage,” she said. “It is an overall problem. The price keeps going up, convenience keeps going down, issues with the cars keep going up. I can’t rely on it anymore.”