Fueding or Fueling a Better Transportation Economy?

Recently, concerned citizens have formed a think tank in our local collective. These people are discussing how the cost of fuel is impacting livelihoods. There has been some lively discussion about how to manage with the rising costs.

Join the chat group over on signal

Suggestions and solutions have emerged such as:

Ride-shares Gas station boycotts

Membership with the Co-Op Cardlock

Ride-shares are perhaps the most obvious and low-hanging solution to reduce fuel usage and waste. There are also two local transit bus routes that run their loops around 100 Mile House and 108 Ranch to 100 Mile.

Another interesting point from discussions in the group is the fact that we have a user owned cardlock station just outside of 100 Mile, at the corner of Canim-Hendrix Road and Highway 97. Many folks don’t utilize it or even know much about it.

The Four Rivers Co-op cardlock mostly services hauling-truck traffic transporting between northern BC and southern BC. I spoke to a few community members and they were hesitant or uncertain about the Four Rivers Co-Op Cardlock. Some thought maybe the prices were too high and others couldn't figure out what it was and still others thought that the payment bills were too hard to read. What the cardlock lacks in instant gratification, it makes up for in Member Benefits. The cardlock does require you to set up an account and become a member and receive a monthly bill. However, the benefit of becoming a member is that if the Co-Op Cardlock does well - when people use the service and purchase their fuel there- its members also do well! Additionally, the community directly benefits.

How do members benefit exactly? Well, the coop provides members with dividends, meaning direct profit sharing. So at the end of a year a member is likely to receive a cheque!

How does the community benefit? Well, the Four Rivers Coop also directly distributes money to community service organizations.

“As owners, members receive a portion of any profits earned by their local co-operative association. Over the past five years, local associations across western Canada have returned almost $1.4 billion to their members.”

Despite some local hesitancy if one can find it in themself to either go into the office next to Smitties, or go online and become a member this simple change can actually generate a direct benefit to the person AND the community.

The Four Rivers Co-Op Cardlock has open membership - why not try it? Four Rivers Co-Op offers both members and the community direct benefits that far exceed anything we could fathom seeing from the counterparts, those big chainname gas stations. With their constant price fluxes and often changing - meaningless “points” systems, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade.

Just the other day, I was in Save-On and the couple in front of me were being offered some deal for fuel with the Save-On Card linked to Chevron. They thought this was great! Yet minutes before I was driving through town and noticed the price at Chevron was $0.04 more than the Super Save down the road. Scratch any savings with that “points'' system! But I digress…

Back to the Four Rivers Cooperative venture. It’s different. The benefits include: The amount members potentially receive is based on a percentage of their purchases throughout the year, which is distributed in two ways: annual cash back or equity. Like a savings account, every member has an equity account that grows over time. Decisions and policies on profit-sharing are made locally and vary between co-operative associations.” The Four Rivers Co-Op also has a community fund. They award up to $100,000 to local community projects and assets. When was the last time you heard of any of the corporate gas stations giving away money? For that matter, chain gas stations even sell lottery tickets to get a cut of the collection of the "idiot tax" for the Province of BC.

Instead of paying for fuel at a place that supports the idiot tax, become a member of the Four Rivers Coop takes less than 5 minutes and costs less than a meal out (5$) plus you get your membership dues back if you ever leave. You can become a member online by navigating to this link, or you can join in person at the office in town, which is located just down from Smitty’s restaurant.

If you've got the Signal app, you can be added to the local chat group for discussing rising fuel costs and transportation issues, just by scanning or clicking the QR code at the beginning of the article. Join us as we think about a better fuel economy! Do you have a story about transportation in the Region? What about wider connective regional transit that links communities to other centers? We would love to hear from you.