new car club sign on melbourne grove

[Otto]

What does "car club" parking mean? There is a new sign on melbourne grove.

Is that for quick rental cars like zip cars?

Otto

[TheAllSeeingEye]

There's one on Crawthew Grove as well ...

[jaybee82]

Its for streetcar.com - will probably be home to one of their cars.

[Peckham native]

It's Southwark's car club. See here Streetcar

[TimmyBaggins]

Just spotted another 5/6 cars 'coming soon' in East Dulwich for Street Car.

I've been using these guys for nearly 2 years and it's a great asset for the area. Good to see they are doing well.

[Otto]

Thanks all - that is great!

[James Barber]

Southwark had agreed 81 on street car parking locations ie on Southwark council controlled roads.

The East Dulwich would have received 4/5 (one on the border). Using Cleaner, Greener, Safer money the East Dulwich councillors have funded an extra 10 places for East Dulwich. The launch was on Lordship Lane last Friday.

Streetcar have 4,500 members in Southwark they tell me. These extra 91 cars should really help increase membership and replace many privately owned cars. They tell me their latest membership surveys indicate 24.5 cars given up and replaced by each Streetcar in the pool.

[Nero]

Hmmm. Or do they persuade people who have not got a car to start using them? I can't see that people will be giving up their cars to 'trade down' to a car club more than those without a car will begin using such a service.

[Sue]

They were giving out leaflets on Lordship Lane at the weekend.

I think it's a great idea, and I'm certainly going to look into the pros and cons of giving up my car.

If you can afford to run a car without thinking twice about it, of course, it's probably not very appealing - unless you care about climate change.

[sophiesofa]

Sue, did the leaflet have an offer as part of it? I've been thinking of joining up so just want to check that there isn't an offer on at the mo. Thanks

[SteveT]

I considered giving up my car in favour of this scheme but I thought that when you most need them, at high days and holidays, they would all be taken.

[bawdy-nan]

yup - they mostly were when I wanted to use them - I ended up buying a car. Great that there are going to be so many more - it only really become a more viable alternative if there are lots really nearby

[Sue]

sophiesofa Wrote:

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> Sue, did the leaflet have an offer as part of it?

> I've been thinking of joining up so just want to

> check that there isn't an offer on at the mo.

> Thanks

xxxxxx

Can't see an offer, prices given are a fiver an hour (well, ?4.95 :)) ) for a Polo, or ?50 for 24 hours, then it rises via a Golf and 7-seater to ?8.95 an hour for a van, ?80 a day.

30 miles free petrol a day for city driving, unlimited on longer trips, not quite sure what free petrol means, presume you still have to put petrol in but there's no mileage charge? Surely petrol isn't included in the cost? I haven't checked it all out yet.

More info at

www.streetcar.com

There's a parking spot at the end of my road, and I've noticed another one in the next road, so I am quite tempted to try it. I don't know how long in advance you can book for hols etc..

Need to do some arithmetic around costs, but you don't pay tax, insurance or congestion charge and there's 24/7 customer service.

My only concern would be those times when you don't really need to drive somewhere but it's much more convenient, and you have your own car sitting outside and just have to get into it!

[sophiesofa]

Thanks Sue, very helpful. I nearly joined last year but rang to check a car would be free for the following week when I needed it and there weren't any available so I didn't join. Hopefully that will change with the new spaces. Still not sure about ?5 per hour because I kind of need mine for things like going to b&q etc so it would be cheaper to get a taxi. I do think they're a really good idea though.

[TheAllSeeingEye]

Cant say Im a big fan .. when Im struggling to find a parking space locally and someone who pays no road tax potentially has a space reserved :-(

[EmilyE]

It does actually mean free petrol. There is a card in the car to fill it up and then you get 30 miles per day/booking and unlimited on trips over 72 (?) hours. I think you do pay the congestion charge though, just not up front - it's billed afterwards.

You can book several months in advance, can't remember exactly how long.

TheAllSeeingEye - my understanding of road tax is that the vehicle will need to be taxed, so road tax will be being paid, just shared out between the members. And as for struggling to find a parking space - the idea (and indeed the evidence, apparently) is that it reduces the number of cars owned and therefore makes more parking spaces available. I don't own a car, but would if I didn't have access to Streetcars.

[Horsebox]

TheAllSeeingEye Wrote:

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> Cant say Im a big fan .. when Im struggling to

> find a parking space locally and someone who pays

> no road tax potentially has a space reserved :-(

Every car used or parked on the road in the UK has to be taxed.

These cars are taxed.

Some of the rental fee will go towards the tax.

Don't worry, nobody is getting a free ride while you have to pay.

Is it really a "struggle" to find a parking space? More of a minor inconvenience, I would imagine.

[bil]

i know a few people who use street car alot. We used their vans when we moved but the nearest collection point was London bridge at the time. maybe we won't need to get that second car we have been talking about for the last year.(and can't really afford). i think this is good news for ED.

There was an article today on working about car sharing which i also thought was a good idea and hadn't considered. I've always wanted a BMW 6 series, does anyone want to share one? (split with 10 people just about makes if affordable- and could I drive it once a fortnight)

[TimmyBaggins]

Going to sound like a work for them, but actually just a satisfied customer.

I sold me car after joining as it was significantly more cost-effective to use Street Car. Also the cars are always in good shape and can be rented for as little as half an hour. Thats ?2.50 to pick up the shopping on a saturday. I have to say availability has been pretty poor recently so I'm feeling grateful that there are more cars to service the area.

Longer trips include unlimited petrol/diesel (up to fair use limit of 200 miles a day) after that they charge quite a scary amount per mile. A word of warning though, I got a street car for a journey up north for a two day trip which didn't qualify for unlimited petrol. The petrol cost came in at something silly like an extra ?120 when it would have only cost ?30 to fill it up. That said, I really do recommend street car for short journeys.

[Sue]

Suppose I was going to a festival.

Is it possible to drive the car up there, leave it in the nearest town for someone else to use, then hire it again to drive back?

If not, it makes it quite expensive if it's sitting around for four or five days.

Re the carsharing, I was seriously considering buying a camper van to share, but none of my family were interested :-S I might investigate a non-family sharing route, but I would be concerned about legal implications and someone doing a runner with the van :-$ Has anyone ever tried a carshare among say six people? Did it work?

[EmilyE]

Sue Wrote:

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> Suppose I was going to a festival.

>

> Is it possible to drive the car up there, leave it

> in the nearest town for someone else to use, then

> hire it again to drive back?

>

> If not, it makes it quite expensive if it's

> sitting around for four or five days.

>

I think that you can do a one way trip for ?24.50 (though that may only be in London), but I don't think you could then get the car back to come back home. I agree that makes it expensive and is a bit frustrating. My personal hope is that once there is a critical mass of members that that kind of thing will become possible - but meantime, there are journeys that just don't make sense. Still it may still be cheaper than running a car? And at least with a five day hire, you'd have 1000miles worth of petrol paid for...

[Sue]

Thanks - I don't relish being stuck on a festival site with all my stuff and no way to get home :))

Yes, may still be cheaper, I'll need to do some calculations.

[Mike Dodd]

Are the cars eletric ???

[Jeremy]

Sue Wrote:

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> unless you care about climate change.

Using streetcar might be more environmentally friendly than owning your own car, if it effectively discourages you from using a car - because it costs money every time. But if you already use your car only occasionally... I don't think the argument stands up.

[????]

I gave up my car for 18 months a few years ago, pre-kids. I wish that Streetcar had been around then as I had to conventional hire which was a pain and generally ruled out 'spontaneous' road trips. With kids it just wouldn't be pratical for me but this makes sense.