Cut down on congestion and costs by joining Exeter's car club

Devon County Council is calling on Exeter to use a car club to cut down on congestion and travel costs.

Through LSTF (local sustainable transport funding) the county council is supporting Exeter-based company Co-Cars to buy more vehicles and raise the number of users.

By joining the car club residents can book a car when needed without the cost of keeping one on the road full time.

Cars are parked in a designated bay and can be unlocked through a smart card. The vehicles are clean and have full insurance, tax and MOT.

Members can use the vehicle for as long as they have booked it for and pay per mile and hour. Any fuel needed is purchased using the car’s fuel card and included in your mileage rate. The car should then be returned to the same location it was picked up from.

Co-Cars membership has grown steadily to nearly 250 members as more people consider sharing vehicles a viable alternative to car ownership.

Cabinet member with responsibility for roads, Councillor Stuart Hughes says; "This is an excellent scheme where employees need to make business trips, however it also works well for families too. Perhaps they have gone from two cars to one to save money, or if you live or run a business in the city centre and don’t have the space for a car but still need to drive occasionally."

He continues; "As well as saving people money on fuel, road tax and MOTs, on average one car club car results in 10-20 private cars being taken off the road which is good news in congestion and environmental terms too."

Mark Hodgson from Co-cars says; "If you drive less than 6-8,000 miles per year then a car club could save you up to £3,500 a year. Replacing a second family car with car club membership can bring even more cash savings."

"A lot of people don’t notice the true costs of running a car, but when you add up the cost of tax, MOT, fuel, servicing, repairs, depreciation and parking you could be looking at an average of over a hundred pounds a week."
For more information about Co-Cars or to become a member, visit www.co-cars.co.uk