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Car Clubs

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Cliff Jordan – co-founder of Oxcar in 2008; now paid part-time by Commonwheels to do local promotion.

Oxcar – Voluntary group of residents in Oxford wanting to introduce car clubs to Oxford and support their expansion.

Commonwheels – A ‘Community Interest Company’ with c 50 cars in a dozen cities, towns and villages across UK, including 14 in Oxford

Streetcar – The largest car sharing club in the UK, recently merged with Zipcar (USA), with over a thousand cars in UK, (mostly London), including 13 in Oxford

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What is a Car Club?

A scheme to provide convenient access to cars, replacing the need for so many privately-owned cars.

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Features of a Car Club

Vehicles are dispersed – located in close proximity to the people who use them

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Features of a Car Club

Vehicles are dispersed – located in close proximity to the people who use them

Vehicles are available with a minimum of fuss - members can book quickly online or by phone; immediate access by smartcard; invoice emailed monthly.

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Features of a Car Club

Vehicles are dispersed – located in close proximity to the people who use them

Vehicles are available with a minimum of fuss - members can book quickly online or by phone; immediate access by smartcard; invoice emailed monthly.

Vehicles are available for periods of as little as half an hour

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Features of a Car Club

Vehicles are dispersed – located in close proximity to the people who use them

Vehicles are available with a minimum of fuss - members can book quickly online or by phone; immediate access by smartcard; invoice emailed monthly.

Vehicles are available for periods of as little as half an hour

‘Pay-as-you-go’ - the tariff is based on an hourly charge, plus a mileage charge; and includes all costs (Maintenance, MOT, Tax, insurance and fuel)

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The benefits -1 ‘Disrupting the default setting’ - car-owners tend to use their cars for virtually every journey.

Car Club membership leads to more deliberate choices about the mode of transport to use for any particular journey.

This results in more walking, cycling and bus and train use, and

fewer car milesless pollution, less road congestion,

less CO2 emittedless CO2 emitted

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The benefits -2

Car Clubs tend to favour fuel-efficient

vehicles, leading to fewer CO2 emissions per mile driven.

(including some experimentation with electric vehicles…)

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The benefits -3

Car Clubs allow access to vehicles for those who otherwise could not afford to run their own car, helping reduce social exclusion.

(Our towns and cities are designed increasingly on the assumption that everyone has use of a car)

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The benefits -4

For the member: – cheaper than running one’s own carif using a car for up to about 20hrs per week(and savings increase enormously for those keeping a car, or

second car, for even less use than that)

– none of the hassle of looking after a car

– access to a variety of vehicles (eg small car easy to park; larger car good for passengers and luggage; van for moving goods)

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Where do Car Clubs succeed most easily?

• Where lots of people live close together

• Where there are good public transport networks, and walking and cycling provision.

• Where/when people are responsive to new ideas

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When are Car Clubs not suitable?

• For those who need a car to commute every day

• Where everyone is OK as they are

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• Streetcar provides 13 vehicles in Oxford, of which four are in North Oxford, at Complins Close, St Margarets Road, William Lucy Way and Woodstock Road (St Anthonys College)

– Tariff based on £4.95-£8.95 per hour, depending on vehicle, inc first 30 miles, then 23p/mile

– VW Polo, Golf, Transporter van, BMW series 1,

– all new cars under 1 year old

• Commonwheels provides 14 vehicles in Oxford, in the eastern half of the city, and is keen to expand its provision.

– Tariff based on £3.25/£4.25 per hour, depending on vehicle, plus 19p/mile

– VW Polo, Golf, Passat, Nissan Note, Micra, Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Octavia, Citroen C3, Seat Leon, Vauxhall Zafira,

– Vehicles often 2 to 8 years old; many ‘adopted’ from members

Car Clubs in Oxford

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Across the north of Oxford (Wolvercote/Summertown/Cutteslowe area) there

is scope for maybe four or five more vehicles, depending on demand

• Streetcar – simply join and use

• Commonwheels - join, wait (stimulate others), consider providing your car.

• LCON – consider resources you have to offer collectively.

(access to potential members, detailed local knowledge of good locations, suitable cars that owners may consider leasing to Commonwheels)

Car Clubs in North Oxford- an abundance of possibilities

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Possible consequences of Car Clubs

They encourage an interest in collective solutions to (apparently) personal difficulties

Car Clubs only work as part of an integrated system, where residents have access to good public

transport, & good cycling and pedestrian networks.

Non car-owners need these. Healthy communities need these. Car Club members need these.

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Possible consequences of Car Clubs

Car Clubs might loosen the addictive co-dependency that many drivers have

with their cars. (disguised as a ‘love affair’).

This could start to undermine our whole society’s addiction/dependency on the motor car,

and maybe allow and encourage more emotional maturity

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Car Clubs -

a non-confrontational, non-coercive mechanism reducing our society’s private car-addiction

For more information

• www.oxcar.org.uk voluntary group supporting car clubs in Oxford area

• www.carplus.org.uknational charity supporting car clubs

Cliff Jordan, January 2011

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