Phil Burke, Travel Plan Co-ordinator, gave a
presentation on the Car Clubs Scheme.
Emerging Car Clubs:
- Peer to Peer car
clubs involved renting your own car out or driving another
person’s car. Operators acted as facilitators and cars could
be more local, but there was generally a need to meet with the
owner to obtain the keys.
- One Way car clubs
were emerging in Europe and Birmingham was trialling the first UK
scheme Car2Go. Users did not need to pre-book, the nearest car
could be collected and left anywhere within a geographical area
(like the ‘Boris Bikes’ scheme). It was harder for
operators to manage due to uncertainty in predicting where cars
would be. There would not always be a car available when or where
it was needed.
The pros and cons of Car
Clubs:
- Car club cars were
generally more modern and more fuel efficient than the average
car;
- CityCar Club
calculated that it’s cars emitted 37% less CO2
than those they replaced;
- Car club members
generally drove fewer miles than the average car owner;
- CarPlus estimated
that one car club car replaced 24.5 private cars;
- One-Way car clubs
could rival more sustainable travel modes such as bus, bicycle, or
walking;
- Car clubs offered
wider access to car use.
Car Club Membership in the
UK:
- As of 1 January 2012,
about 160,000 people were members of car clubs in the UK (as
recently as 2005 this figure was just 5,000);
- These members were
sharing just over 3,000 cars;
- There were commercial
car clubs in Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh,
Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Huddersfield, Leeds, London,
Manchester, Southampton, and York;
- Around 85% of car
club members lived in London;
- Membership rates were
increasing and one estimate suggested there could be two million
members in ten years time.
The Effects of Car Clubs on
other Modes of Transport:
- Traditional car clubs
were generally believed to be complementary to public transport,
and could even make public transport a more viable option for some
journeys;
- One-way car clubs
were more likely to take journeys away from public transport, but
could also facilitate more public transport journeys in the first
place;
- Future models could
see integrated ticketing options, for example, a season ticket for
railway journeys that included car club membership.
The Future of Car Clubs and Car
Ownership:
- Membership of car
clubs was predicted to continue increasing at double digit
rates;
- The two biggest
developments were the growth of peer-to-peer car clubs and one-way
car clubs;
- Car manufacturers
were producing cars specifically to suit the demands of the car
club market such as Ford and GM, and some car manufacturers such as
Daimler and Peugeot were setting up car clubs;
- On-street parking
space would be at a premium;
- There would be
integration with other transport modes, for example, integrated
rail or car club ticketing and dedicated station
parking;
- Allocation of road
space would be a possibility, for example, for the Olympics or a
school run.
In response to Members’ questions, the
following points were made:
- Insurance for the Peer to Peer car
clubs was agreed through the two companies who operated to
scheme.
- Car Club Schemes were likely to be a
city solution in the first instance but would likely be used in
smaller towns in the future as well. It was envisaged that new
residential developments in the Borough in future could include
small car clubs.