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

MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIES21.16 Additionally, some of the work/live apartments were subsequently converted into residentialunits, which could have a detrimental impact on potential uptake (recognising thecontribution that mixed use development has on achieving high utilisation rates of the carclub vehicles).21.17 With regard marketing the car club, the site no longer employs a green lifestyle officer,hence it is more difficult to engage with residents, particularly for re-sales. Whilst work is ongoingwith local estate agents to promote the car club as a positive sales asset, thereremains more to be done to develop this concept further.21.18 BedZED also experienced some short term problems with the supply of on-site car clubparking spaces when the development was handed over to the facilities managementcompany – whilst this was resolved in a few days, it was recognised as an issue by users,and the operator who had to manage the provision of short-term parking in the meantime.Supporting Measures / Alternative Approaches Considered21.19 The car club is well supported by other sustainable transport initiatives. The green transportstrategy adopted from the outset of the development ensured that the infrastructure tosupport cycle use was incorporated into the detail design of each unit (incorporating securestorage), and enabled the reduction in on-site car parking spaces to be agreed with the localplanning authority. This reduction in spaces is a critical component of the car club initiative.21.20 The design of BedZED incorporates home zone principles, promoting safety for pedestriansand cyclists whilst within the BedZED development.21.21 Its overall access to other transport networks, also plays an important part in thedevelopment of the car club, enabling residents to forgo car ownership, with many of thereplacement trips made by conventional public transport (bus, rail and light rail). A trial wasestablished with Thameslink, which offered a £50 discount for car club members (in the formof a voucher issued), although this has since been abandoned as uptake levels were verylow.Integration with Other Schemes21.22 The BedZED car club is now a part of the wider London City Car Club, and this widerintegration is seen as fundamental by the original developers of the scheme. By providing awider network of support vehicles, and a range of on-street car parking bays (stronglyenforced and exempt from local charges), the scheme has gained a growing level ofcredibility, and has answered the questions raised by the initial sceptics.Marketing and Promotion21.23 The car club is continued to be promoted by Smart Moves, both to existing and newresidents / employees / employers at BedZED and surrounding neighbourhoods. In manyways the scheme self promotes itself, both through the prominence of the car club parkingbays on site, and word of mouth. The current waiting list for car parking bays is used as anincentive to introduce members to the car club whilst waiting for a space to becomeFinal V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 125 -