Edinburgh’s car club is set to be continued for another five years, despite a dip in public interest, under plans going to city councillors for approval.
The scheme, run by Enterprise, is the second largest in the UK after the one in London, and has 13,211 members.
According to the report, it has a fleet of 182 vehicles, mostly consisting of cars but also including vans.
Car club services allow members to pay a monthly rate to access a fleet of hire vehicles, and paying per mile or per hour for access to one.
Edinburgh’s service offers a variety of plans, with a £7/month “Standard Monthly” package allowing vehicle rentals at £8 per hour, or £49 for a full day.
A report before councillors at Thursday’s Finance and Resources Committee says the market for car clubs has contracted since the pandemic.
As such, it says Enterprise’s offering is the only one with ‘capacity to meet the demand and growth’ that the city’s transport officers want to see the scheme undertake.
If approved, the plans will see Enterprise pay the council £90,000 per year over five years to run the service, which will cover the cost of road painting and other works to facilitate it.
And, 5% of hourly and daily charges for car hires in the city will be directed to the council, up to £175,000 per year.
The firm’s last contract with the council saw it pay £72,000 per year, and lacked a profit-sharing agreement.
Across the yearly permits and the profit-sharing system, the council may make up to £875,000 across the life of the contract for the service.
As part of the plans, the council has also provisioned in a maximum spend of £250,000 per year on council use of hire cars.
It gives a total possible cost to the council of £1.25 million throughout the contract – but it may be less, and will depend on how much the city uses it.
The report says that the council cannot require new developments to help pay for the car sharing service, as it is not covered by current planning legislation.
It does say, however, that council officers will continue to request new developments include spaces for car club vehicles when considering applications.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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