Car clubs, sometimes known as car sharing, provide individuals and businesses easy and affordable access to vehicles 24/7 without being tied to ownership. By offering low carbon, flexible use vehicles with potential to integrate into wider mobility systems, car clubs are a key component for future sustainable transport solutions.

Car clubs provide a pool of cars that are available to all members and can be booked online, over the phone, or via a phone app.  Users then pay an hourly rental and fuel charge as they use the cars.

In the traditional model, users book the car, drive it and then return it to the same location.  The following are some of the emerging variations on the traditional version of the car club:

Peer-to-peer sharing

Peer-to-peer car-sharing enables people with underused vehicles to offer them for rent to their neighbours and other members of the local area. The service provider needs to establish insurance cover for its members. It takes a modest commission for arranging the hire and providing cover.

One-way car sharing

One-way car sharing is just starting in the UK. It enables members to pick up a car from within a pre-defined zone and drop it off anywhere else within the zone, using approved on-street parking spaces (often pay and display bays). Charges are inclusive of fuel and parking and are for time only (by the minute or hour).

What are the benefits?

• Sustainable travel behaviour.Car clubs have the potential to reduce car ownership, inspiring a shift away from private car use to walking, cycling and public transport instead.
• Benefits for businesses.Car clubs can help businesses and charities access the cleanest vans and cars, save money and reduce emissions.
• Transition to electric vehicles.Many car clubs now operate electric or hybrid vehicles capable of operating with zero emissions.
• Environmental and safety benefits.By encouraging people to transition to cleaner vehicles with the highest safety rating, car clubs can improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions.

Ride-hailing services, such as Uber, use smartphone apps to connect paying passengers with licensed taxi drivers or private hire vehicle operators who provide rides for profit.

Car subscription is a modern concept and similar in nature to film, television and music subscription services, in that subscribers pay a monthly fee in exchange for access to a car.

In the same way that subscribing to a service such as Netflix means you can ditch your DVD or Blu-ray collection, a car subscription service means you don’t have to worry about the likes of insurance, maintenance, road tax or any of the other typical costs that come with owning or leasing a car.

For a monthly fee, it provides subscribers with the use of a car of their choice, with all the incidental costs included.

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)  describes a shift away from personally-owned modes of transport and towards mobility solutions that are consumed as a service. This is enabled by combining transportation services from both public and private transport providers through a unified gateway (portal) that creates and manages the trip, which users can pay for with a single account. Users can pay per trip or pay a monthly fee for a limited distance.

Micromobility is a category which describes modes of transport provided by very light vehicles such as scooters, bikes and e-bikes.

The primary condition for inclusion in this category is a gross vehicle weight of less than 500 kg. Additional conditions are the provision of a motor and availability as a shared service.

Demand-responsive transport (DRT) is a user-oriented form of passenger transport characterised by flexible routes and smaller vehicles operating in shared-ride mode between pick-up and drop-off locations according to passengers needs.  These vehicles typically include taxis, buses or other vehicles.

DRT has the ability to help us reduce our emissions by sharing journeys and taking vehicles off the road, reducing congestion and improving air quality within our cities. It also provides the opportunity to deliver accessibility to all by ensuring that vehicles are fit for purpose.