Forum topic: Car Club usage in Palmers Green

Does anyone use cars round here via zipcar.co.uk (where you pay membership then pick up a car locally) or easyCar Club (peer to peer car hire)?
Do you find it convenient? What are the pros and cons?

Hello Julia,

I do have a Zipcar account and I've been a member for around three years. Primarily I use it for transportation of Large Amounts Of Stuff, so the reason for going with Zipcar is that I also get access to Zipvan for my membership fee. I think it's great - the only real "con" to my mind is that it can be difficult to park it on residential streets precisely where you want it because there are so many private cars parked there already, but that's hardly a problem limited to car club schemes and is reflective of the saturation of vehicle ownership.

I think Zipcar is fantastic, although there doesn't seem to be much demand for it round this way, so there aren't many Zipcars this far North. Perhaps that will change - I'm still holding out for the day when more people realise that paying 50 quid a year to be able to access a vehicle whenever you need it - with insurance built in and the congestion charge paid for you - is so much better than forking out much more to keep your own on the road!

Thanks for the feedback, Holly. I have a car but don't use it enough to justify replacing it when the time comes. The nearest Zipcar is 20 minutes walk from me, so I'd really like one nearby so I can carry on driving for usefulness and pleasure without the bother of ownership. I can't see anywhere on their website to propose new Zipcar locations in London; http://www.zipcar.co.uk/how#how-to-zip
But we can ask City Car Club to set up a car location near us; https://secure.citycarclub.co.uk/contact/car-near-me/
If occasional drivers like me used a car club instead of having our own cars, there would be more parking spaces for regular drivers. I hope other people will use the form to lobby for more car club cars to be located in this area.

Julia that's a good idea. Maybe the Council could be encouraged to help facilitate such "lobbying" for such as one part of the Cycle Enfield project. I've looked at my own travel habits, partly as a result of all the on-going discussion, and over the last year have reduced annualised car use from about 6000 miles pa to well below 2000 and it's still falling significantly, mainly by taking out anything below about 3 miles and replacing the car with feet, buses or a new theme of two wheels. Its now at the stage where it's so low that the uncharged battery doesn't like to turn the engine over which suggest larger changes are going to be appropriate.

One thing is certain: the current Enfield Council administration is interested, and is quietly promoting, car clubs and similar schemes: I've attended public meetings organised by the council where they were promoted.

Whether or not it could or would tie them in to the Cycle Enfield project is another matter, but perhaps we could help by thinking through how it might work. For example, I am/shall be pressing for kerbside, covered and secure bike storage in many residential streets which will mop up a little parking space. However sufficient replacement space would be created if only one person joined a car club and sold their own car.

Not perhaps a shining light of an idea, but it illustrates the sort of thing which could be helpful