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Partnerships with community transport
There is a strong network of community transport organisations across the UK, providing minibus and voluntary car schemes in a bid to tackle social exclusion and problems of access to amenities. The synergy between car clubs and community transport is being recognised, particularly in areas where the prime objective of the car club is to increase accessibility rather than to tackle congestion and parking problems. Partnerships are now being pioneered in some rural areas of the UK.
How do car clubs work?
Cars are parked within easy distance of where members live or work, and can be booked for as little as an hour.
Car club vehicles could be used
by individuals wanting to get to amenities not accessible by public transport
by local businesses for work-related trips
as a pool car to commute to the local station or workplace
by drivers in a voluntary car scheme
a 7-seater MPV could be used as part of a minibus brokerage scheme
Benefits of the partnership
The partnership can be of benefit to both the community transport organisation and the car club and increase the viability of both.
It can increase the pool of drivers in a voluntary car scheme, giving access to a pool of cars for those who either don't have or don't want to use their own car
It can increase the usage of car club vehicles, particularly during daytime hours when cars tend to be under-utilised
Joint publicity can increase public awareness of both schemes
The two schemes can pool resources, sharing staff and office space, keeping down the overheads of both
Issues to consider
The use of car club vehicles as part of a community transport scheme is still at the feasibility stage, and there are issues that will need to be considered, such as:
trips which involve a long wait at the destination may be more expensive using the car club charging regime which includes an hourly charge as well as a cost per mile; a cheaper hourly rate may be applied to such trips
some trips will be for hospital appointments, where it may be difficult to estimate the length of the booking required
approval for using the cars for community transport trips must be sought from the insurance provider; this has already been negotiated for the Carplus insurance scheme
should the passenger join the club and be invoiced for each trip? or should the driver join, charge back the cost to his passengers for community transport trips, and be eligible to use the cars for private use as well?
can voluntary drivers be offered free membership?
Case studies
Penistone Line
Partnership (PLP)
The Penistone Line
Partnership is a community rail partnership in West Yorkshire,
set up to encourage travellers back onto the local railway by
organising special events, improving stations, and running
educational activities. They have also diversified into other
transport modes to increase patronage: they set up a community bus
service to take passengers from the Holmfirth area to the nearest
railway station, and more recently they were keen to take on the
role of launching and running the Our Car Your
Car car club in the Colne Valley when the
organisation supporting its initial development had to pull out.
With the track record of car club members making a significant modal
shift away from private car use, they see the car club
as part of the solution in encouraging back on to trains and buses.
They already have interest from other communities wanting to set up
a car club in their area.
Cars 4U
Richmondshire and Hambleton Cars 4U, launched in February 2005 is managed by RCVS and covers Richmond, Catterick and surrounding rural areas. The cars are used by RCVS Volunteer Driver Scheme and Reeth and District Community Transport, they take people to hospital and GP appointments for example.
Contacts
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