Car Clubs - A Cool Idea

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

I belong to Streetcar and it works very well. Doesn't replace my main
car but means I use it a lot less and it allows me to cycle more knowing
that I can pick up and use a car when needed at the end of the journey
rather than taking my car with me on the journey.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

In news:[email hidden],
Artemisia <[email hidden]> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:

Quoted message said:

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

"There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be
displayed." Bah!

IIRC this is fairly widespread in Germany. We once - about ten years ago -
had a German chap come to stay with a view to selling the idea to various
London councils but nothing seemed to come of it at the time, though I dimly
recall seeing an item about such a thing on one of the TV motorcar shows.

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
This Unit is a productive Unit.

Artemisia said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

Pal of mine is in one in Edinburgh. The trick seems to be a certain
density of population, which sadly doesn't seem to be present in Dundee
:-(

It also depends on what usage you want to make. Typically, such cars
are very popular at weekends for obvious reasons, and that's when we'd
want one, and we'd want it for the whole weekend and we'd want it with
roof-bars, which doesn't fit the generic sort of vehicle wanted in our
case. But that by no means invalidates the thing on a general basis!

Work has introduced pool cars for NHST business and they're popular and
doing well. Only catch was I couldn't get one last time I needed one as
they were booked out already that day...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

In article <[email hidden]>,
Artemisia
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

It's almost like public transport that works. :-)

"Artemisia" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

Bristol's been doing it for years, and is expanding it all the time.

Peter Clinch said:

Pal of mine is in one in Edinburgh. The trick seems to be a certain
density of population, which sadly doesn't seem to be present in Dundee
:-(

Stroud, population 10,000 has one. Keenness for green issues probably
helps - the Green party run the town council, the mayor can be seen
round town on his bike. I'd have thought Dundee was easily big enough
to support one, you just need a few people who are pushy enough to get
it going.

Rob

In uk.rec.cycling Tony Raven said:

I belong to Streetcar and it works very well. Doesn't replace my main

I've joined WizzGo in York and it's excellent.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

Artemisia said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

EFR
Ile de France (for example)

FlexCar seems to be picking up here in the States. Not sure about its
European counterparts, but Flex car has several locations around the
city with only one or two cars. You simply make your reservation ahead
of time and a magic fairy comes and gives you the keys. The spaces are
reserved for that specific car only (very obviously painted) so you just
drop it back off when your done. I wish I new more of the details.

\\paul

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

FlexCar seems to be picking up here in the States. Not sure about its
European counterparts, but Flex car has several locations around the
city with only one or two cars. You simply make your reservation ahead
of time and a magic fairy comes and gives you the keys. The spaces are
reserved for that specific car only (very obviously painted) so you just
drop it back off when your done. I wish I new more of the details.

Streetcar its even easier. Go to their website to check availability
and book the car. Walk up to car, wave Smart Card at windscreen to
unlock it, retrieve keys from glove box dispenser by entering your PIN
code, start car and drive off. There are pretty hefty charges for late
returns so getting there and finding the car not back from the previous
hirer is rare. In the same way as Flex, the parking space is clearly
marked out and reserved.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

Tony Raven said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

FlexCar seems to be picking up here in the States. Not sure about its
European counterparts, but Flex car has several locations around the
city with only one or two cars. You simply make your reservation ahead
of time and a magic fairy comes and gives you the keys. The spaces are
reserved for that specific car only (very obviously painted) so you just
drop it back off when your done. I wish I new more of the details.

Streetcar its even easier.

All of these ideas sound great. Unfortunately, I see that Streetcar does
not have a presence anywhere noticeably north of London and Whizzgo only
has a presence in larger cities.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

"Artemisia" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

PhillyCarShare, now five years old, has been immensely successful. I know a
number of people who have moved back into the city and now don't own cars,
and the availability of this service was very influential in their choice.
There are several different models for this; PhillyCareShare's
not-for-profit approach seems to be working very well.

And I've never had a bad traffic encounter with someone driving one of their
cars, either.

http://www.phillycarshare.org/index.php

r

On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:54:08 -0700, Artemisia <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

Vancouver BC had the first English speaking car co-op in the world.

http://www.cooperativeauto.net/
--
zk

Tony Raven said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

I belong to Streetcar and it works very well. Doesn't replace my main
car but means I use it a lot less and it allows me to cycle more knowing
that I can pick up and use a car when needed at the end of the journey
rather than taking my car with me on the journey.

does look a intresting idea, i don't think i would get much use out of
it, (most of my car use is long distance travel)

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

In rec.bicycles.misc Paul Myron Hobson said:

FlexCar seems to be picking up here in the States. Not sure about its
European counterparts, but Flex car has several locations around the
city with only one or two cars. You simply make your reservation ahead
of time and a magic fairy comes and gives you the keys. The spaces are
reserved for that specific car only (very obviously painted) so you just
drop it back off when your done. I wish I new more of the details.

One car club has been around in Helsinki for many years now, and it
seems they currently have a few dozen locations around the metropolitan
area. The system seems to be pretty well thought out, based on what's
on their website:

"Club members can make reservations either online or use the 24-hour
reservation service (0200 242424). When making reservation they need to
decide what type of car they need, plus where and when they will pick it
up and return it. The car can be accessed by calling the opening number
(0200 88111) with a mobile phone. Next, the individual.s PIN number is
requested and then the last three digits of the car registration number.
After this, the central locking system will open the doors and the car
is ready for use. The keys will be inside the car. During the
reservation, the car functions normally, locking and unlocking works
with the key. When returning the car, the keys are left inside and
personal belongings are removed. A phone call to the closing number
(0200 88222) will lock the doors. The used time and driven kilometres
will be sent electronically to the central billing system. The car is
free for the next booking."

URL: http://www.citycarclub.info/en/

Never tried it, but no doubt a system like this can be very sensible for
people who only have an occasional need for a car.

Antti

In article <[email hidden]>, Tony Raven
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I belong to Streetcar and it works very well. Doesn't replace my main
car but means I use it a lot less and it allows me to cycle more knowing
that I can pick up and use a car when needed at the end of the journey
rather than taking my car with me on the journey.

I was tempted to use Streetcar - they have two vehicles parked near me -
but the UKP150 registration put me off. Have they since waived that? The
last time I rented a car, to collect an ebay purchase from elsewhere in
London, I got one from Six-t for UKP15 plus petrol. Much less than a
taxi would have cost me for the journey there and back.
--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

"Paul Myron Hobson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Artemisia said:

Very interesting article in THE INDEPENDENT today.

Car-parks, in housing developments and elsewhere, offering cars for
easy and affordable hourly rental along a sort of Velib system, so
that people can have cars when they need them (to go to IKEA, etc.)
without having to own them.

http://money.independent.co.uk/property/homes/article3088193.ece

I hope this takes off in a lot of countries.

Quoted message said:

FlexCar seems to be picking up here in the States. Not sure about its
European counterparts, but Flex car has several locations around the city
with only one or two cars. You simply make your reservation ahead of time
and a magic fairy comes and gives you the keys. The spaces are reserved
for that specific car only (very obviously painted) so you just drop it
back off when you're done. I wish I new more of the details.

We also have flexcar (http://www.flexcar.com/) in Seattle. There's no magic
fairy. You waive your flex car over the reader; the keys are in the
glovebox.

We're considering using flexcar at our workplace. Since nearly all of our
workforce comes in by public transporation (we have two regular car drivers
and four regular cyclists), most people don't have a car around if they need
to go somewhere "in the field". Driving to work is hugely inconvenient and
parking is expensive. The idea is, if you did have somewhere you needed to
go during the work day, you could use the flexcar. Since a lot of them get
better gas mileage than people's personal cars, using flexcar would be
better for the environment, too.
--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I was tempted to use Streetcar - they have two vehicles parked near me -
but the UKP150 registration put me off. Have they since waived that? The
last time I rented a car, to collect an ebay purchase from elsewhere in
London, I got one from Six-t for UKP15 plus petrol. Much less than a
taxi would have cost me for the journey there and back.

Its currently £49.50 a year but those who, like me, joined before June
this year get Founder Member status with the membership fee waived :-)
http://streetcar.co.uk/pricing-Membership.aspx

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

Ekul Namsob said:

Quoted message said:

Streetcar its even easier.

All of these ideas sound great. Unfortunately, I see that Streetcar does
not have a presence anywhere noticeably north of London and Whizzgo only
has a presence in larger cities.

Well, Streetcar - on a page which you can't reach except via a script,
how silly - say that all you need to do is offer an off-road parking
space for a Streetcar in your area:

Give Streetcar a home!

Do you have an allocated parking space? Then we want to hear
from you! Streetcar homes need to be available and accessible 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. You must also have the legal right
to let out the space.

I have a red Skoda that needs an MoT and to be shifted from the
driveway. Then there'll be a space for a Streetcar there.

Daniele

D.M. Procida said:

Ekul Namsob said:

Quoted message said:

Streetcar its even easier.

All of these ideas sound great. Unfortunately, I see that Streetcar does
not have a presence anywhere noticeably north of London and Whizzgo only
has a presence in larger cities.

Well, Streetcar - on a page which you can't reach except via a script,
how silly - say that all you need to do is offer an off-road parking
space for a Streetcar in your area:

Give Streetcar a home!

Do you have an allocated parking space? Then we want to hear
from you! Streetcar homes need to be available and accessible 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. You must also have the legal right
to let out the space.

I have a red Skoda that needs an MoT and to be shifted from the
driveway. Then there'll be a space for a Streetcar there.

That's a fine idea. It's unfortunate that, as a two car family, we don't
have space for one.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>