Making Car Sharing and Car Clubs Work - Case ... - The Civil Service

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MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIES18 OUR CAR YOUR CAR: COLNE VALLEY CAR CLUBGeneral background18.1 The idea of developing a car club in the Colne Valley was put forward in 2001. The initialmotivation for developing the scheme was environmental, related to concerns about localcongestion and pollution. There had been a noticeable increase in second car ownership inthe area, in part related to changing patterns of settlement. The area is increasingly popularwith people who work in Leeds or Manchester, as house prices are lower than in the cities,the setting is relatively rural, and there are good direct rail and bus links into Leeds,Huddersfield and Manchester.18.2 Ourcaryourcar operates in the Upper Colne Valley area, with cars located in Slaithwaite andMarsden. It was formally launched on 29th March 2003. The Club has 34 members, up from10 members 12 months ago. The membership is mixed, 57% female and 43% male.However, where families join the scheme, the Coordinator reports that the woman is morelikely to be the prime mover.18.3 The Club has three Vauxhall cars in Slaithwaite: a Corsa, a Zafira and an Astra Estate.These cars are parked in a public house car park close to the centre of Slaithwaite. Parkingis provided free-of-charge by the landlord. A second Corsa is located in Marsden. Themajority of members live in Slaithwaite, but some travel into Slaithwaite by bus from nearbyvillages to use the cars.Operating structure18.4 The Club is managed by the Penistone Line Partnership (PLP), which employs HazelBonner, the Club’s Coordinator. Hazel manages the day-to-day running of the scheme andits marketing. She provides induction services for members and deals with most of theproblems that arise on the ground. The bookings can be made by telephone, on the internetand by using the in-car computer system (Drive-IT technology provided by Smart MovesLimited).18.5 PLP, which deals with the Club’s funding applications and general financial management, isa not-for-profit company that actively promotes rural and sustainable transport projects. It isa voluntary organisation which supports and promotes community involvement along theHuddersfield to Sheffield railway line.18.6 Hazel has an on-call role for members and often exceeds the 20 hours per week she iscontracted to work. The balance of Hazel’s workload has changed over time: at first it was75% marketing, with 25% administrative tasks associated with the membership. This hasshifted to 75% administration and 25% marketing. Hazel believes a 50:50 balance would bepreferable.18.7 The demands placed on the Coordinator are many and varied. The role requires excellentinterpersonal and communications skills, a good eye for marketing at every level fromdeveloping and designing effective leaflets to negotiating advertising space in local shops,Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 96 -
MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIESthe ability to explain and demonstrate the IT system to members, administration skills,reporting to funding bodies, undertaking interviews with press and media, encouragingmembers to take part in media interviews, working in partnership with local authority officersand others, and patience and persistence when enrolling new members. It is extremelydifficult to find and recruit employees of this calibre, particularly when the job is part-time andon a fixed-term contract basis.18.8 The Club has a high level of user involvement. Its Steering Group consists of eightmembers, and there are regular members’ social gatherings. Some members help withmarketing and promotion by assisting with leafleting and cooperating with publicity drives inthe local and national press and on local and national radio. More experienced membersalso provide a buddying system, helping new members get used to the in-car IT andproviding internet access for bookings for new members who do not have their own homecomputer. There is a strong sense of member ownership of the Club, and active membersfind it a valuable asset, as it makes pay-as-you-go multi-modal travel possible. There is alsosome evidence of car sharing using car club vehicles, where members share the car to taketheir children to social activities outside the village.18.9 The Club offers household membership, as well as individual membership. This wascommented on by an interviewee. The option of household membership was the decidingfactor when her household was debating whether to join; subsequently the family car hasbeen sold.18.10 Mileage is monitored using a combination of the Drive-IT system and the manual log that iskept in each car, which members are required to complete each time they use a car.Impact and effectiveness18.11 The impact on weekly mileage for individual families has been significant. In the case of onefamily, who gave up their only car on joining the Club, their car use reduced from 150-200miles per week to 40-50 miles per week. The family is now more likely to share car journeysand makes greater use of walking and public transport. They also reported a greater degreeof social integration within their community: they had recently moved to the area, and nowhave a number of new friends as a direct result of car club membership.18.12 Most Club members have either reduced the number of cars owned by their household, orhave decided not to buy a second car. Although none of the members reported a significantreduction in congestion in the area due to the Club, they did mention their own relief at nothaving to worry about finding an on-road car parking space or having their car damaged as aresult of on-street parking. All reported an increase in on-street parking in the last few yearsas a result of more households running more than one car.Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 97 -
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