car2go criticised for taking up neighbours' spaces

5:27pm Thursday 6th December 2012 in Top stories By Mike Pyle

New car share scheme gets hostile reception New car share scheme gets hostile reception

A car sharing scheme which aims to give people who without cars the ability to drive around has had a negative reception from many in Sutton after they found white Smart Cars parked in their streets.

car2go launched in Sutton this week. The scheme has introduced 500 cars into three London boroughs - Sutton, Islington and Newham - which are available for subscribers to the scheme to pick up and drive for 35p per minute.

Cars can be used and then left in any council-owned or unregulated parking space including on street parking bays outside people's houses - something some neighbours have criticised.

Sue Stearman of Reading Road said: "These cars2go - they're everywhere. How is it going to work? They're putting them in people's residential streets where people pay for their parking. We have a parking permit but two cars are outside our house and they don't have parking permits in them."

Deborah Anderson, also of Reading Road, added: "Our household along with the other residents/car-owners of Reading Road have to pay for the privilege to park in our street which is a designated controlled parking zone.

"So imagine my frustration when I find five Smart Cars from car2go parked in the street - two have been stuck outside my house whilst we have had to park in a neighbouring road."

The scheme was launched on Tuesday. It has already been implemented in several European cities but London is the first city in the UK to get the cars. car2go customers subscribe to the service and get an app which tells them where their nearest car is and they swipe a card on the windscreen to activate it.

They can then use the cars as much as they like for 35p per minute. The cost includes fuel, insurance, road tax and parking. When drivers are finished they can leave the car in any legal, council-owned parking space in a participating borough.

Stefan Muller, chief executive of car2go, said: ""A lot of Londoners don’t need or want a car all the time but enjoy the freedom that driving brings. car2go gives the best of both worlds - the ability to go where you want, when you want - and in comfort - but without all the costs associated with owning, running and insuring a car full-time."

People can sign up for car2go for free until December 31 by visiting www.car2go.com/London.

Comments(14)

Sutton53 says...
11:28am Fri 7 Dec 12

I saw one of the 'car2go' cars in Cavendish Road with a parking-ticket on the windscreen today. Will Sutton Council quash the ticket? To me it is a 'Business' parking on our roads being supported and backed by the London Borough of Sutton Council as they allow them to use the 'resident's bays'. What sort of financial payoff is Sutton Council receiving off the back of this?. The residents (mostly in South Sutton) have to pay for the privilege to park in these bays. Everyday there appears to be more 'car2go' cars parked up in the bays originally meant for resident permit-holders only. With an emphasis on the word 'Resident' for which proof had to be provided to Sutton Council. They aren't exactly spread out in Sutton they seem to be mostly in South Sutton. What happens if nobody takes up the offer? Will the cars be left in parking-bays meant for the residents' of Sutton for days on end?

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mooboonoo says...
12:50pm Fri 7 Dec 12

These cars are everywhere and not welcomed by myself either. There were five in my street alone last night. And some were in residential parking bays- bays for the us not them.
We have a perfectly good transport system in Sutton- masses of cars 2 go which are more expensive and smaller than other competitors in the area just aren't needed.
And are they going to stop parking in the residential bays? Come on council- get your act together!!!!

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Suttonmum71 says...
1:29pm Fri 7 Dec 12

I live in North Sutton and 4 appeared outside my house a few days ago. Can't say there's a huge demand - they haven't moved since! Hope they go soon so I can park outside my house again.....

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Marie from Sutton says...
2:47pm Fri 7 Dec 12

A genuine inventive idea to reduce the increasing amount of cars in Sutton by sharing.
Well done Sutton Council!
The cars are welcome to park in from of my house anytime where there are regular fights as to whom has to right to park. Saves me a journey to the theatre.

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Forseas says...
6:07pm Fri 7 Dec 12

I arrived home to find 3 of these cars in pay and display bays, in my road we 3 permit bays and 5 pay and display bays which after certain hours become resident bays as well.
As a resident in Sutton for 40years I am disgusted that we were not notified in any way about these cars appearing in the bays.it seems another money making scheme for Sutton council ,is it not enough we paid council tax to live in our roads and purchase permits to park our cars.
One of the cars as already been vandalised in the road and to be honest I hope they all are!!
I have written the the local MP and I am waiting for a reply.i would like to know if Mr Paul Burstow has any of these cars outside his house!!!!!!
I feel let down by the council for allowing this and I will do all I can to rid Sutton of this evasion of what I can only describe as utter madness..

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Michael D says...
6:18pm Fri 7 Dec 12

I do not remember residents being consulted about this (or even told) until they suddenly appeared in the road.

We have got five within sight of our flat in South Sutton. Two have had tickets today for parking in residents bays. We have very restricted residents parking on our small estate and residents and visitors often have to park on the road

Sutton and London have good public transport and the council is for ever telling us to walk or get on our bikes. That all sounds a bit hollow now, doesn't it?

Sutton has simply been conned by the clever green marketing of cute little cars into letting a major car hire business operate at the residents expense.

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fargis says...
10:53pm Fri 7 Dec 12

I can only assume that the council is getting paid for this. However, I don't remember being told about this.

Public roads are paid for my taxes and a limited amount of space is given over to parking, much of which is resident parking at least part of the time. This is a service to the local community, not a means for a private company to make money while everyone else struggles to find a parking space for themselves or visitors.

There are three cars that I can see from our south Sutton flat, none of which have moved. At the weekends the parking around here becomes very difficult at the best of times. We already have cars you can hire by the mile or minute.. they are called taxis.

Rather than less cars on the roads this is just adding a load more. Why not put in some bike hire scheme or small, more frequent buses?

And where exactly would I drive one of these cars considering no borough next to Sutton is running the scheme? Shall I drive to Cheam and then dump it outside someone house? Nah, I'll ride my bike, it's cheaper, saves space and a lot quicker.

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TOPHOUSE1 says...
9:09am Sat 8 Dec 12

simple answer to this one,get the addresses of your councillors,get together and collect as many of these cars as possible and park them outside your local councillors house.You will find the problem will soon go away and will be completley legal.

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Forseas says...
1:29pm Sat 8 Dec 12

someone must be listening as they appear to have vanished in my road unless a space ships beamed them up for the weekend.

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Giles C says...
1:44pm Sat 8 Dec 12

In the document which was approved by the council with regards to the agreement with car2go it says with regards to consultation this:
"It is not considered necessary to consult the public on this proposal as there is no direct impact on any properties, residents or businesses."
Well from the comments above and the tenant of this article one would beg to differ.

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Sutton53 says...
8:27am Sun 9 Dec 12

Only a few left in South Sutton now - according to the website they all appear to have migrated to Gibson Road Car Park overnight. Someone must have been busy during the small hours.
Mind you, just walked past one parked in Cavendish Road that does not appear on the website map, so maybe they are not as 'smart' as they appear.

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Giles C says...
10:07am Sun 9 Dec 12

How much is Gibson Rd car park per day?

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Krissi says...
2:21pm Sun 9 Dec 12

well first time I saw them there were three in Greyhound Road- they are so small I reckon two could park in one standard parking space- if the drivers were any good- not much good if we wanted them for a shopping trip or picking up furniture though which was what we would need a car for as most of the local charities that sell furniture ask for delivery of £18-20 which kills any savings we might make by buying there- and at 3.50 per minute don't think many will use them either, as most things a car is needed for are at least one -two hours so might cost up to £42.00- again no saving.

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bystander tolworth says...
5:01pm Sun 9 Dec 12

A similar scheme was introduced in Amsterdam in the 1960's. The 'witte car' scheme was the brainchild of a town council who were controlled by cannabis smoking hippies! The scheme failed!

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