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As the person responsible for launching the very first commercial car club, the Budget City Car Club in Edinburgh, I was hugely disappointed to read that the Department for Transport had decided not to back a proposal that would have seen the nationwide roll-out of car clubs in major urban areas.
The Budget Rent a Car initiative, launched in 1999, was in many ways ahead of its time. The project, operated in conjunction with Edinburgh City Council, received nationwide publicity and positive reaction from users.
In 2000, it won the Fleet News 'Environmental Initiative of the Year Award.' Since then we have seen various similar follow-up initiatives introduced, with widespread success.
However, all these car clubs run independently at a local level. To have had a car club operating at a national level would really have captured the imagination of businesses and the public alike. The fact is that those living in towns and cities do not necessarily need to own a car. Weighed up against the cost of ownership and the difficulty of finding adequate parking, the car club scheme represents a very viable alternative to car ownership. Many car clubs allow members to rent for as little as an hour.
Having worked in car rental, as well as contract hire, for the vast majority of my working life, I have always held the belief that vehicle rental, either short-term, medium-term or long-term, can be for some, especially city centre residents, a better solution to car ownership.
The advent of the car clubs puts the icing on the cake by allowing those persons, who have made the deliberate decision to forgo ownership of their own form of transport, to still avail themselves of a vehicle for an hour or two.
The environmental benefits of car club schemes are really only now being truly appreciated. Generally, the vehicles operated by car clubs are low emission vehicles, they are modern and therefore feature the latest drive train technology, they relieve pressure on parking spaces and overall congestion in urban areas.
DfT's decision has been met with widespread criticism.
We are still waiting for the publication of an integrated transport policy from Government and all transport experts share the belief that car clubs form an important part of any such policy initiative.
Bike hire by the hour is the latest craze being championed.
National vehicle hire by the hour, through a properly administered and policed car club scheme, should be equally championed.
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