1:50pm Saturday 11th April 2009
By Ian Mason
When 74 car club-only parking spaces began appearing in the borough in February there was an outcry from residents angry they had not been warned or consulted.
Richmond Council’s critics and Conservative opposition jumped at the chance to point out alleged failings in the way the scheme’s expansion was handled.
But despite the complaints, many, including the critics, agreed that – in theory – car clubs were a good idea.
For those who have no idea what a car club is, it is a service which enables you to book a – car or van – when you want and for as long as you want without the responsibility that comes with running your own.
Having spent the past few weeks as a member of car club operator Streetcar, I have definitely become a fan of the initiative – and with 1,200 members in the borough I am not the only one.
Anything that can help reduce traffic must warrant praise and, according to Streetcar’s website, “every car shared results, on average, in six private cars being taken off the road”.
If my GCSE maths holds up that means the borough could see 444 fewer cars clogging up the streets by this time next year.
Streetcar is not the only company operating in the borough – Zipcar and City Car Club both have bays – but I was invited by Streetcar, the UK’s biggest car club, to test-drive its service.
As with any unfamiliar concept there is natural uncertainty or suspicion and when it comes to transport initiatives – whether it be controlled parking zones, meter rates dependent on CO2 emissions or unjust fines – many living in Richmond will automatically predict the worst.
The car club scheme though may ultimately prove more popular than its recent reception would suggest.
So how does it work?
Well, joining requires you to be between 19 and 75, have held a valid driving licence for at least a year and have had no more than one accident in which an insurance claim was made in the past three years.
If you check out, and pay the annual registration fee of £59.50, the driving can begin.
It felt as if I was the owner of a new toy when I wandered over to Twickenham’s York House car park to get into the Volkswagen Golf that resides in its private bay there.
Just minutes earlier I had phoned the Streetcar office and one of the team – all of whom seem genuinely happy and helpful, either that or they are remarkable actors – booked it for me within seconds.
Like so many boys I love my gadgets and being able to swish my membership card over a small reader on the windscreen to unlock the car was immensely satisfying.
I blamed over-enthusiasm for my inability to explain why the steering lock was not working, but it was not a problem because an in-car device put me straight back to the Streetcar helpdesk.
An understanding employee was swift to point out I needed to “jiggle” the wheel to free it up and away I went.
Thirty-five-year-old David Balko, of Victoria Road, Mortlake, has been a Streetcar member for the past 15 months and had nothing but praise for car clubs.
He says: “I find it a really useful service and quite reasonable too, the costs are quite accessible. You do need the disposable cash, but suddenly your monthly outgoings are a lot less.
“You don’t have to spend the money on things like insurance.
“We’ve just got back from the States and there’s no food in the house. If I had a car I would have jumped in it and gone to Sainsbury’s but now I’m going to jump on my bike and go to Waitrose.
“You just slightly have to change your behaviour and think ‘do I really have to get in the car? Well no, I probably don’t’. You feel like you are doing something vaguely green without making too much of a change to your life.”
Some letters sent to the Richmond and Twickenham Times have complained about the fact the car club vehicle in their road has never moved.
Perhaps this is because the service is yet to fully grow in popularity in the borough or maybe – as the scheme is perfectly designed to do – the car has been taken out for such short trips it has been returned before anyone had a chance to notice.
Either way, anyone looking to rid themselves of the cost of running their own car would do well to give some thought to joining a car club.
It’s perfect for quick trips to the supermarket or, as I found when moving house, doing runs to Ikea or similar stores to grab those heavy buys.
Of course it is not a perfect system. On one occasion I was stuck waiting outside a car for several minutes because my nifty card had failed me and was not unlocking the doors.
Again, the team at Streetcar’s call centre were able to solve the issue relatively quickly and, overall, the cars were very reliable.
Mr Balko has only once had a problem himself and said the Streetcar team immediately rebooked him into another vehicle and put credit on his account to cover the cost of a taxi to it.
He added: “There’s a good spirit among the Streetcar people – it’s a slightly unusual community.
“The breadth is now there for most people in London to have a car where they live, where they work or where they are out and about. For me it’s the convenience of it, that’s the trick.
“It’s more convenient than you think.”
The bays in Richmond have been installed with some of this funding, and the three separate car clubs operating in the area pay for a permit for each one, in the same way that some residents must purchase permits.
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