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

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MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIESavailable, with the hope that once they have seen the benefits of membership, they will nolonger require their own space for their private vehicle.21.24 BioRegional have continued to play a strong interest in car clubs both nationally andinternationally, and have a strong belief that marketing should focus upon the financial andconvenience benefits, in addition to the environmental gain. For example, in Canada,innovative marketing made potential members aware that they could pay off their mortgage6 years earlier if they adopted car club culture, and for new residential units, the option tojoin the car club is just one of the options available on the overall menu (alongside acoordinated kitchen, and landscaped garden).Financial Performance / Targets21.25 The scheme has required little in ways of subsidy (£35,000 from SEED, free of chargeparking spaces from Peabody Trust, London City Car Club grant funded through a fund setup to cushion the impact of the introduction of the Congestion Charge), and hassubsequently been self financing. The utilisation of cars remains the highest within theLondon City Car Club (average of 10,000 miles per vehicle per year). The role of the greenlifestyles officer was fundamental in this, as was the marketing of the car club through theinitial sales consultations.21.26 A key issue for the car club is the supply (and financial feasibility) of new dual fuel vehicles.The vehicles are expensive to lease, and generally require a larger engine size, with higherrunning costs. This additional cost is reflected in the membership and operating costs of thevehicles, and this has a direct effect on peoples willingness to join the scheme.Research and Development21.27 Smart Moves is currently trialling the use of a third vehicle at BedZED, and continues toexplore the use of a wider fleet of vehicles. Integration with the London City Car Clubensures that members have a wider access to ‘one off vehicles’, for example larger vehiclesfor carrying bulky goods. Whilst the DRIVE-IT hardware and software remains robust, SmartMoves continue to evaluate latest technologies to ensure all of their fleet are suitablyequipped.21.28 It is not now accurate to refer to the club as the BedZED car club. Initially a stand alonescheme known as ZEDCars, it is now one a network of car stations run by Smart Moves inLondon and has no separate identity.21.29 The Car Club is continuing to improve integration with other public transport modes, both byoffering specific offers / information, and by looking to better integrate the bookingtechnologies. For example, it is hoped that at some time in the near future, that car clubusers will be able to use cashless ticketing for all of their journeys (including all modes ofpublic transport), either through an interface with the existing car club smart card, or bymigrating the car club booking facility to the Oyster Card (contactless smartcard), which iscurrently used for payment on London public transport services.Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 126 -
MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIESSupport/Consultation21.30 The scheme was developed carefully, and benefited greatly from the experiences of CarPlusin getting the scheme off the ground. In addition, Jo Taylor, who worked for BioRegional,completed a Winston Churchill travelling scholarship examining car clubs across Europe andNorth America, and has used this experience to suggest further enhancements to thescheme.21.31 Consultation remains a strong component of the scheme, with on-going user and non usersurveys, and communication sessions, to ensure the car club continues to offer the rightproduct and level of service.User Perceptions21.32 The scheme has strong support from it’s members, with high utilisation rates for all vehicles.All of the users interviewed as part of this study provided strong praise for the scheme andhad significantly changed their travel behaviour. 2 of the 3 users had given up a car as adirect result of membership, and had not suffered any accessibility problems as a result.Those that had given up their car travelled at least 50% less miles, and had noticed areduction in overall trip making activity (more thought was given to each trip, and whethertrips could be more appropriately combined).21.33 In all cases, the motivations were a combination of environmental awareness and financialsavings (in all cases the financial savings had been realised as a result of car clubmembership, and had not been identified from the outset).21.34 All users perceived the technology to be reliable, and welcomed the newness andcleanliness of the vehicle fleet. The ease of use, and not having the hassles of carownership (insurance, breakdown etc..) were all considered to be important aspects of thescheme. Similarly, the availability of vehicles was seen as excellent (and important), andonly on a couple of occasions had users not been able to book a vehicle (in all of thesecases, a vehicle was sourced from the London City Car Club parking bays in Wallington).21.35 Other issues raised by the users included:The acceptance that car clubs offer a ‘pay as you go’ service, hence requires a changein lifestyle choice.Recognition of the carbon savings that were being made as a result of publicity andtheir own awareness of reduced trips.Felt that more should be done to promote car clubs including use of bus lanes, taxexceptions, increased dedicated parking bays, and wider choice of vehicles exemptfrom congestion charging.The importance of employer payments for membership (e.g. BioRegional pay groupmembership for all staff)Improved information on the benefits of car club membership (including the possibilityof comparing trip costs using different modes at the time of booking)Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 127 -
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