Want to have a car club in your neighbourhood?

There are almost as many different routes to a car club as there are clubs, but here are our four recommended steps…

STEP ONE - Short cut

Check the interactive map at www.carclubs.org.uk by entering your postcode to see if there is a car club near you already. If so we recommend contacting the operator to discuss your needs and what they would require to supply a car club service to you.

STEP TWO - What are the benefits of car clubs and where’s the evidence?

If you need to prove the case for car clubs to local people and organisations, either in money terms or the many environmental benefits, here are the sections of our website which summarise the latest research.

If you want more evidence here is an example of a community already benefiting from access to a car club - Rusty Car Pool

For everything you need to know see our tailor made guidance document: Car Clubs and Car Sharing: Improving your community with green transport initiatives - contact Carplus for a printed copy.

STEP THREE - Next options

A. Attract a commercial operator

If you live in a city or reasonably sized town you may be able to attract an operator to provide car club services. This is more likely if you have the factors on our checklist

It is also worth raising the idea with your local council - both staff in Transport Planning and also your elected Councillors. If you can present a well supported case to the operators they are more likely to be attracted. See the list of UK operators here.

B. Act local, keep it small

See if you can raise enough interest in your street / club / village to share cars informally. For info on the insurance requirements and suggested ways to organise the club see this guide (downloads pdf file 58KB)

C. Start a Community Club

You can create a more formal group, perhaps based on an existing organisation. There are a range of these smaller clubs in the UK including: Hourcar, Moorcar and Stroud Valleys.

The main things you need to source are cars, insurance and parking spaces. You also need to decide whether you want to be high tech with smartcards and website bookings or low tech with a simple paper booking system. All these are all available in the UK, see insurance and technology contacts.

Commonwheels

Commonwheels is a new CIC (Community Interest Company) which has been set up to provide support and services to a network of car clubs in the UK . It is a not for profit company which aims to help communities to access the benefits of efficient, low emission cars in their neighbourhoods.

Commonwheels has a flexible operation and can provide either a complete car club or selected services such as insurance, telematics and booking systems.

For more details and contact information see the Commonwheels page or go direct to the Commonwheels website.

STEP FOUR - Get some support

Carplus has an email group set up for community run car clubs which is a great source of help and advice from people who are already doing it - sign up at Yahoo Groups

If you have looked at the checklist and think a car club is right for you and would like an independent view Carplus will happily advise on this - contact us.