Green Special: Car sharing

By Rob Virtue on October 12, 2009 3:19 PM |

Tagged with:

Car-sharing clubs are seen as the greenest way to drive these days.

Rather than clogging up the streets with unnecessary journeys, they offer drivers the chance book a journey with no overheads, thereby picking and choosing when to hit the road.

Zipcar, a hugely successful American car-sharing club, is beginning to grow this side of the Atlantic, claiming it can save car owners thousands of pounds annually in petrol, tax and insurance.

However, the company says its stumbling block nationally is getting the message to the car owners.

A spokesman for Zipcar said: "In our current economy, consumers and businesses are increasingly looking for ways to cut costs, and also live and work in a more sustainable ways. Car sharing helps people to do both."

In the Canary Wharf area where Zipcar has recently branched out with cars and spaces in the Isle of Dogs and further north in Tower Hamlets, it believes it has the ideal customer.

Zipcar's UK managing director Paul McLoughlin told The Wharf recently: "We've looked at what car ownership is like in the area, and it's one of the lesser percentages in Tower Hamlets.

"A lot of people buying there may have just moved to London or work in Canary Wharf and perhaps don't need a car as much."

Click here for the Green Special on air travel