DfT provides £500k to support car clubs

The DfT is to provide £500,000 funding to support two pilot programmes which will promote wider access to car clubs.

Announcing the funding, Baroness Kramer, transport minister, said: “Car clubs cut congestion, reduce carbon and save people money while still giving people the freedom and flexibility to use a car when they want to.

“Interest in car clubs is already gathering pace and we want to give that interest added momentum.

“This funding will highlight their many advantages to even more people and help take car clubs up a gear."

The DfT says the proportion of carless households has been growing across the country since 2005, and that interest in car clubs is also growing.

There are more than 150,000 car club members in England and the Government is keen to support their growth, quoting figures which suggest that one rental car can take the place of 17 individually owned vehicles.

The Government also says that “evidence suggests that pay-as-you-go car use encourages people to walk and cycle more often and make more frequent use of public transport”.

The DfT is already funding 48 car club and car sharing schemes through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.