Royal Greenwich signs up for more car club bays than ever before

by WO Admin | Greenwich

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is expanding its car club service in the borough, meaning there will be more car club bays than ever before. It means it will be even more convenient for residents who sign up to the scheme to hire out cars or vans by the hour – and the borough is urging more residents to consider joining the car club.

Car Club: Cllr Danny Thorpe poses beside a rental. (Credit: RBG)

The expansion is due to a recent agreement with operator City Car Club – who have signed up to deliver a number of new car club bays in the borough and are offering Royal Borough of Greenwich residents complimentary membership for a year.

Car clubs are a great alternative to owning a car, particularly in a city. The vehicles are parked at specially marked bays close to residential areas in particular, and members of the club sign up and then can hire them out whenever they want – avoiding all the costs of car ownership like tax and insurance, and of course the cost of the vehicle itself.

There are now more than 40 car club vehicles available for car club members in various locations across the borough. These are provided by City Car Club who plan to provide a number of new car club vehicles in the coming months.  Other car club vehicles are available with Zipcar, the other car club operator in Royal Greenwich. Residents who are already members of Zipcar can enjoy up to three years free membership with City Car Club.

Councillor Danny Thorpe, The Royal Borough of Greenwich's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport said: “We were one of the first boroughs to offer a car sharing service and we want to continue to encourage as much uptake as possible.

“Joining a car club is a great way of saving on the costs of car ownership and is more environmentally friendly. People can almost always book a car when they need one and our expansion will mean even better choice and availability.

“Car clubs form an important strand of our efforts to encourage people to look at the whole range of transport options open to them – be it walking, cycling, using public transport, or when needing to use a car, considering a car club. There are huge benefits to being in a car club so I urge residents to join up!”

Brian Swallow, City Car Club Managing Director said: “We are really excited to be working with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to build on the transport options open to residents as well as visitors coming to the area. City Car Club has more than 9,000 members in London, so these additional vehicles will prove invaluable to many of the members we have based outside the borough too.”