Car sharing hits new Brighton and Hove milestone
There are now 100 car-sharing vehicles across the Brighton and Hove used by more than 3,000 people.
Since its launch in 2003, City Car Club has been credited with helping the city reduce congestion and air pollution, and making it one of the least car-dependent cities in the country.
Research by Carplus, the UK’s regulatory body for car clubs, found that for every car club vehicle in operation in Brighton & Hove, five private vehicles are taken off the road.
In 2014, the presence of City Car Club’s low-emission and hybrid vehicles also saved in excess of 60 tonnes of CO2. This is due to the scheme encouraging residents to walk, cycle and use public transport for shorter journeys and use their environmentally friendly vehicles when travel by car is the only option.
Councillor Ian Davey, Brighton & Hove City Council’s lead member for transport, said: “The scheme delivered by City Car Club has played an important role in engaging residents and promoting the use of alternative forms of transport.
“More and more people continue to realise that their approach to motoring is a much cheaper alternative and one that is able to demonstrate impressive environmental benefits.”
James Finlayson, Managing Director of City Car Club, said: “We’re really proud of what has been achieved while working in collaboration with Brighton & Hove City Council.
“The fact that Brighton & Hove has become England’s largest car club operation outside of London is a real milestone.
“With 100 cars and vans across the city, residents are able to benefit from more immediate access to the car club. It is showing dividends, particularly in light of the city being recognised as one of the least car-dependent in the country.”
In celebration of this achievement, City Car Club has set up an initiative to encourage more residents to use the scheme and experience the benefits for themselves.
New members will be able to claim £30 worth of free drive time by simply quoting BCC371 when they fill out the online application form.
The hope is that as more people use the scheme it will further strengthen sustainable transport options within the city and continue to alleviate pressures surrounding parking, air pollution and congestion.
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I would have liked to have used a city car club vehicle – unfortunately the nearest one to me is a 30 minute walk away, hence of highly limited value.
I would query how the alleged carbon savings have been calculated and the assumptions used to determine the congestion and emission savings – mainly, since, if dozy Davey is involved then there never seems to be any real metric measurements and instead lots of inspirational guesswork used instead.
Good ole Wiley (Fracky), forever positive!
Great news that the City Car Club is growing.
It doesn’t suit everyone, but as occassional car users we have saved a packet over the years. If we had not been members we may have become a car owning household with all the costs that entails. Every one is a winner; someone else buys and services the car, a parking space freed up for others in my street, dedicated space for the car club car, paying per journey encourages less frivolous use and better thought out and more productive journies so big carbon savings. Probably the biggest carbon saving is not having to buy a personal car in the first place. Each car saved is several tons of CO2 not emmitted in its construction.
If you have a second car, or a car for occassional use then a car club is for you and if there are none locally, get lobbying as that has worked 100 times in the city so far.
Hi Gerald,
We would be more than happy to discuss with you how we calculated the figures in above article and as Hjarrs suggests, this figure does not include the carbon emitted during the construction of the vehicles that ours replace.
Also, if you don’t currently have one of our vehicles close by and feel it would be of benefit to both you and the local community please let us know. We are always looking for new locations so that the benefits of car-sharing are readily available to more communities.
Please do get in touch if you would like to talk about any of your concerns. Simply send an email to marketing@citycarclub.co.uk and we will get back to you.
You’ve raised some great points, Hjarrs. I was aware of the whole car sharing movement before but it wasn’t until a City Car Club car actually appeared on my street over the weekend that I started doing some research into it. It does appear to be a great way to save money on transport and certainly does make you consider actually taking on the weight of owning a car.
Gerald, I felt the same way as a few companies do end up just fudging the numbers but I think given their size it would be quite hard not to have done some research to back it up. I’m hoping to use one of their car shares on Thursday so will let you if it’s as amazing as they make out. 🙂
I’ve just moved to Brighton and find my car no longer suits my lifestyle.
How can I link in to a car Clun.
I bought a new Honda civic less than a year ago.
I live in the hanover area.
Hi Ruth
You can find the Brighton car club at http://www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk/.
There are 5 cars available in Hanover – bottom of Islingword Rd, Grove St, Ewart St, Finsbury Terrace & Islingword Place. Plus others nearby!
Also contact Hanover Action for Sustainable Living.