Guidance

Car clubs: local authority toolkit

Updated 25 October 2023

Car clubs allow users to access a vehicle without owning one and can offer a flexible, cost effective alternative to private car ownership or leasing. As car club vehicles are often newer, they tend to have lower emissions than private cars, which helps to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution.

For local authorities, car clubs can help deliver against wide-ranging objectives which include:

• achieving net zero targets
• improving air quality
• increasing vehicle occupancy rates
• reducing parking pressures and congestion
• offering a sustainable transport option that can fill gaps in public transport provision

Local authorities have a role to play in promoting car clubs by ensuring policies and interventions supporting car clubs are integrated with wider local transport and net zero strategies.

Car clubs are becoming increasingly popular with a total of 767,899 UK car club members in 2023, an increase of 38% since 2020. To accommodate this growth, the number of total car club vehicles has also increased. There are 5,167 car club vehicles operating across the UK.

Types of car club

Car clubs provide residents, visitors or businesses with access to a vehicle as a short-term rental, usually by the hour. Car clubs may also include other vehicles such as vans alongside cars.

Car club operating models include commercial car clubs, peer-to-peer commercial car sharing and community car clubs.

Commercial car clubs, such as Co-Wheels, Enterprise, Hertz and Zipcar, own their own fleet of vehicles which they rent out to users. These clubs manage the vehicle tax, insurance and maintenance and may cover fuel costs. Typically, members pay a monthly or annual fee and an hourly rate to hire a vehicle.

Commercial car clubs are usually operated by 3 main methods:

• back to bay – a user books the car, picks it up from a dedicated parking bay, drives it and returns to the start location at the end of their hire
• back to area – as with back to bay but the car must be returned to within a designated area (usually geo-fenced), which allows other members in the zone to access the vehicle without it having to be returned to a dedicated parking bay
• one-way or flex – a user books the car, picks it up within a defined zone and drop it off elsewhere in the zone in an approved location. This model is operated by Zipcar Flex in London

Peer-to-peer commercial car sharing platforms, such as Getaround, Hiyacar, Karshare and Turo, allow people to rent privately-owned vehicles locally via an online platform. The platform providers often take a commission and provide insurance cover. This model can provide solutions where commercial car club models are not economically viable.

Community car clubs are run by local groups, such as Derwent Valley Car Club. These clubs are often informally arranged by local communities as a convenient and cost-effective way of using a car without the cost of ownership. These may offer users access to a small fleet of vehicles (similar to a commercial car club) or enable peer-to-peer car sharing.

Community car clubs may also offer lift sharing to users – where drivers and passengers with similar routes share a single vehicle, rather than driving separately.

Findings from the Shared Mobility Opportunities and Challenges for European Cities (STARS) project show how different types of car clubs suit different localities and journey patterns. The project found that:

• back to bay or area car clubs were used primarily for longer trips (up to several hours), this suggests they would be useful for long-distance commuting, business trips, or leisure trips
• one way or flex car clubs were equivalent to how people use private cars for shorter trips, which suggest these are useful for daily activities such as regular commuting, school drop offs and shopping
• to replace the greatest number of private cars taking journeys, a mix of one way or flex models (for longer trips) and back to bay or area models (for shorter trips) were both needed in a location

The benefits of car clubs

Car clubs provide a cost-effective alternative to driving a private car which can reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, whilst relieving parking pressure and congestion.

CoMoUK’s 2022 car club report, which draws on surveys of members and operators, outlines the positive impact of car clubs. Thirty-four per cent of respondents said that saving money was a central reason for joining the car club and 73% agreed that car club membership saves them money compared to owning a car. The report also outlined that each car club vehicle in the UK is replacing around 22 private cars.

Element Energy’s 2021 report for Transport & Environment identified that the average car club user in London drives 526 miles less per year after joining a car club. It also revealed that 26% of users in Scotland cut their private vehicle usage.

How car clubs reduce carbon emissions

The average UK car club vehicle produces 27% less emissions than the average privately owned vehicle, according to CoMoUK’s 2021 summary report. This is because:

• every car club vehicle in the UK is less than 5 years old, compared with 70% of privately owned cars being over 5 years old – leading to emission savings as standards are tightened over time
• car clubs have a higher proportion of hybrid and zero emission vehicles, with battery EVs making up 12% of the current UK car club fleet, compared to 1% of private vehicles

To maximise the reduction in tailpipe emissions, local authorities should consider the proportion of EVs in the fleet when procuring a car club operator. Several operators have ambitious plans to switch to electric vehicles. For example, Zipcar is aiming for their whole fleet to be electric by 2025.

How car clubs promote changes in use of transport

Car clubs can reduce carbon emissions through changing travel behaviour, including reduced private vehicle use and increased active and public transport use.

Car club users reported a decrease in mileage completed in private vehicles. For car owners, this is because car club membership can remove the need to own a second or third vehicle.

Seventeen per cent of car club members now own fewer cars than when they joined the car club and 16% would have bought a car if they hadn’t joined a car club.

In 2018, CoMoUK reported a net average decrease of 620 vehicle miles for users in London and 793 miles for users across England and Wales. This net figure accounts for an increase in mileage from users who did not own a car and those users who decreased use through not using a private car.

Car club vehicles also tend to have higher occupancy rates than private cars, helping to reduce congestion and displace additional road journeys.

As highlighted by the government’s Transport decarbonisation plan, even small increases in occupancy rates can generate significant carbon savings.

In 2016 to 2017, London car club vehicles had an average occupancy of 2 people. This compares to an average occupancy of 1.6 people for private cars, according to CoMoUK’s 2017 to 2018 annual car club survey for London. 

Lift sharing can also increase vehicle occupancy levels.

In 2021, CoMoUK found that car club members showed higher than average use of active and public transport modes. They reported that:

• 37% of members cycle once a week, compared to a national average of 20%
• 61% of members use public transport at least once a week compared with the national average of 19%

Car clubs can encourage a shift to active and public transport for shorter journeys by incentivising trip chaining to make travel as efficient as possible. This is because car clubs can operate door-to-door and increase access by connecting active and public transport services.

CoMoUK reports that 25% of members of multiple car club schemes are able to pick up a car club vehicle at the end of a public transport journey.

Providing cycle parking next to dedicated car club bays, improving walking and cycle routes to car clubs and situating car clubs near public transport and mobility hubs can also help to supplement active and public transport.

In addition, 37% of car club members use car clubs for trips where public transport options are not suitable (such as unsociable hours or night shift workers). 41% of members also use car clubs when needing to move bulky items.

Additional benefits beyond decarbonisation

By providing a flexible alternative to private car ownership, car clubs can deliver wider benefits for local authorities and communities, in addition to decarbonising transport.

Benefits for local authority policy

Car clubs can benefit local authorities by:

• reducing tailpipe emissions from air pollutants (NOx and particulate matter) resulting in better health outcomes – car club vehicles have 89% lower NOx and 72% lower PM2.5 emissions than average UK cars
• reducing demand for residential parking spaces – the RAC Foundation found that the average vehicle spends over 70% of the time parked at home, a usage pattern that has changed very little in over 25 years – fewer parked cars on the road can free up parking spaces to contribute to improvements in public spaces
• encouraging the release of brownfield land for redevelopment – where developments include car clubs, less space is required for parking, which allows for the inclusion of more shared amenity space and for the development of sites previously thought too small, because they lacked space for parking

Benefits for users and communities

Car clubs can benefit users and communities by:

• enabling access to newer, more environmentally-friendly vehicles
• removing the costs and hassle of vehicle ownership (including certain requirements associated with tax, MOT, fuel, insurance, servicing and repairs)
• allowing people to avoid vehicle depreciation costs
• decreasing household parking expenses
• providing access to employment opportunities and services where public transport is less viable
• allowing access to a choice of vehicles to suit the requirements of a particular journey

Actions for local authorities

1. Procure a car club operator

Procuring a car club operator is a positive action that local authorities can take, signalling a commitment to deliver net zero.

Considerations when procuring a car club operator

To maximise the impact on carbon emissions, the government encourages local authorities to specify electric vehicles in the car club requirements and/or include criteria to evaluate operators on the extent their proposed schemes will deliver emission reductions, supported by evidence.

CoMoUK’s guidance on car club procurement offers detailed, free advice for local authorities. The extent of the council’s influence on operational decisions will depend on any funding provided and how much risk the operator is being asked to take on.

Local authorities can choose between:

• a concession agreement – where a supplier is invited to operate and receive all the revenue from a scheme, without being funded by the local authority, usually without restrictions on key business and operational decisions
• a traditional services arrangement – where a local authority procures a specific service and contributes funding to the scheme (for example, through the operator charging the council a management or operating fee)

Concession agreements may be appropriate where less public funding is available as the operators will wish to have control and work flexibly to manage their operating costs. Local authorities have more control over traditional service arrangements but must provide public funding.

In addition, local authorities need to specify the contract length, operational model (for example, back to bay, back to area or one-way/flex). They also need to specify if one or multiple operators will be appointed, either at the contract outset or later on.

Data sharing

Local authorities may wish to include requirements on data reporting in their procurement specification. Due to the on-board vehicle telematics and booking process, car club vehicles generate detailed and potentially highly useful data on journey patterns.

Local authorities may wish to develop a data sharing framework to standardise data flows, provide robust evidence for transport planning and better coordinate with other councils and car club operators. London Councils has developed the Car Club-Local Authority Data Standard (CLADS) data sharing framework which they encourage local authorities in the UK to adopt.

Accredited car club operators

Local authorities should consider whether to include accreditation as a requirement for a successful bidder. This may be appropriate when tendering larger opportunities but may exclude smaller or community-based operators.

The accrediting body for car clubs in the UK is CoMoUK. Accredited operators must provide evidence that they meet a set of criteria, covering:

• business requirements – organisational structure, annual reporting and environmental standards
• service provision – pricing structure, vehicle and environmental safety, cleanliness standards and emergency contact procedures
• safety requirements – insurance, deposits, servicing and maintenance, breakdown cover, user handbooks, complaints and data security
• data collection – to feed into CoMoUK annual reporting, covering members, operators, emissions analysis and vehicle metrics

Standards are checked at least annually by CoMoUK as part of re-accreditation and may be checked throughout the year to ensure continued compliance. A list of accredited car clubs is available on the CoMoUK website.

Funding and subsidy control

Local authorities across the UK can access funding for public charging infrastructure via 2 funding schemes: the Local EV Infrastructure Fund (England-only) and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) (UK-wide). This funding can be put towards chargepoints for the use of car club cars.

In Scotland, funding to support electric car club development may be available from the Plugged-in Communities Grant Fund. Funding can help housing associations and co-operatives as well as constituted community groups to procure a zero-emissions car club vehicle for use of the tenants and the wider community. For more information, visit the Energy Saving Trust website.

Where a local authority is looking to use public funds to support a charging solution for EVs in a car club, it should consider matters relating to subsidy control. Where the charging infrastructure supported is publicly accessible and not dedicated to the car club (for example, if car club users are directed towards public charging provision), then additional subsidy control considerations do not apply.

If the public funding is to support dedicated bays for the car club, then subsidy control considerations apply. However, these can likely be satisfied if the car club was appointed through a competitive tender or there is a clear need for public funding support.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure they have considered and satisfied these elements and they should consult the subsidy control guidance accordingly.

2. Provide access to parking

Local authorities have an essential role in providing car clubs with access to parking bays, ensuring the smooth operation of the car club and convenience for users.

If the car club is going to operate from fixed, dedicated parking bays, traffic regulation orders (TROs) will need to be amended to re-designate bays for exclusive car club use. These must include statutory and formal consultations and can include an informal pre-consultation where appropriate.

Guidance on engaging with affected parties ahead of the TRO consultation process can be found in CoMoUK’s community engagement plan.

For electric car clubs, vehicles will need regular access parking with chargepoints. Depending on the provider’s operating model, this may be in bays dedicated for car club use, either on-street or in a car park through a TRO, or through access to a network of rapid chargers.

To support the financial viability of a car club, local authorities can remove or reduce parking permit application fees for car club vehicles or introduce a new type of permit to allow multiple car club vehicles to park in an area. For example, in Brighton car club parking permit fees are significantly reduced.

Implementing car clubs: Flexible car club parking in Lewisham

Type of car club – urban, flexible vehicles.

The London Borough of Lewisham created a ‘floating’ car club permit to allow a set number of car club vehicles to park in permit-controlled spaces across the borough. These permits allow car club vehicles to park in the borough, up to a maximum number assigned to the operator. This is reviewed annually and increased or decreased based on operator performance.

Implementing car clubs: London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Type of car club – urban, mix of back to bay, one way and flexible one-way vehicles.

The London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea now has over 210 dedicated car club bays, in addition to provision for one-way flexible services and back to area parking areas.

Since the introduction of car clubs into the borough, the council has worked to progressively expand the number of vehicles available to residents. It now has 4 operators providing a range of car sharing options across the borough.

3. Provide access to EV charging infrastructure

Working with car club operators, chargepoint operators and distribution network operators (DNOs) will be important to enable appropriate provision of charging infrastructure for electric car club vehicles.

As with all EV chargepoint installations, early engagement with the DNO will allow an authority to understand local grid constraints and the potential upgrade costs to enable different numbers of chargepoints and speeds of charging.

Engage with car club operators

Engaging with existing car club operators will allow an understanding of their fleet upgrade and replacement plans, which will inform the deployment of EV charging provision for existing car club vehicles. If the operator already has some EVs in their fleet, their charging strategy can inform how additional charging capacity is deployed.

If an authority is procuring a new car club service, it is encouraged to specify that a proportion of the vehicles must be zero emission. Depending on the availability of existing chargepoint provision, grid constraints and operators’ business models, it may not be possible to supply all vehicles as zero emission initially. In this case, authorities should consider a phased approach over the life of the contract.

Implementing car clubs: electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in London

Types of car club: urban, back to bay and flexible.

The Zipcar flex fleet comprises 30% EVs, but does not require recharging by users. Instead, when a vehicle’s charge level drops below 20%, it is no longer available for hire through the app. A Zipcar driver will be notified to take it to a nearby rapid chargepoint to top up and return the vehicle to a parking space, ready for the next hire.

In Waltham Forest, the authority used funding from Go Ultra Low Cities to install chargepoints in 6 designated car club bays.

Engage with chargepoint operators

If the authority has already procured an EV chargepoint supplier, it may be able to supply chargepoints for car club use. Car club operators may not want ownership of any chargepoints installed at fixed bays themselves as, in most cases, they do not own the bay.

To ensure EV charging provision for car clubs matches demand, authorities may want to include provision for regularly monitoring and reporting usage of car club-only chargepoints specifically in its EV chargepoint procurement. This would enable the operator, the council and the car club provider to assess usage and request additional chargepoints as needed according to a defined set of criteria, such as where car cub charger usage matches or exceeds public chargepoint usage.

Implementing car clubs: electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in Devon

Type of car club: urban and rural, back to bay.

Co Cars is part of a shared mobility service operating from 5 town locations across the south-west. It also operates e-bike and e-cargo bike hire, as well as an EV charger sharing platform. Co Cars works in partnership with local authorities and Rapid Charging Devon to designate parking bays and install EV infrastructure to support their fleet and for public use.

This may be different for community car clubs where the local authority is less involved, such as in Derwent Valley where the car club owns and operates the chargepoint. A similar approach is being taken by a new community electric car club in Brighton who are paying for the installation of chargepoints, with the council supporting through designating bays.

Where public funds are used to support dedicated EV facilities for car clubs it should consider matters relating to subsidy control (see the section on Funding and subsidy control for more information).

For more information on EV charging infrastructure, an online hub for local authorities on EV charging infrastructure is available.

4. Engage with council teams, communities and businesses

Engage with council teams

CoMoUKguidance on car clubs and councils outlines which council teams and decision-makers should be involved for both public and staff travel schemes.

In addition to parking and fleet managers, it will be important to engage with enforcement teams to ensure they are clear on the expectations of EV drivers and car club EV users when using a charging point (for example, if the vehicle must be plugged in and charging when in an EV bay).

Engage with communities

Local authorities should identify stakeholders and engage early with the community where car club vehicles are planned to manage expectations, build trust and address potential concerns.

Local authorities should use their marketing and communications teams to engage with residents in advance of implementing a car club.

The government’s 2019 Shared Mobility: User Attitudes report provides an overview of people’s motivation for and barriers to, using car clubs which can inform the approach to consultations.

Users report that car clubs are convenient, cost-effective and safe, however, non-user may have misconceptions about cost and concerns about the quality of car club vehicles. Local authorities can address these misconceptions through effective community engagement and communications supported by evidence and positive user experiences.

All local authorities will need to consider the expected demand for car clubs, ensuring the commercial case works for their area, including urban and rural communities.

For example, in more dispersed and rural communities a community car club may be more appropriate to serve residents’ needs due to having closer links with the population.

A local authority can help to set up and promote the community car club to ensure it is integrated with other transport or community hubs. Placing vehicles at community hubs, such as village halls, is also likely to encourage sign-up. Peer-to-peer car clubs are also an option in these scenarios.

Councils can provide support by making funding available for feasibility studies and working with lower-tier authorities to develop car club schemes. Councils can also provide links with chargepoint operators and parking contractors and they can help with communications support.

Implementing car clubs in rural areas: community car clubs

Type of car club: rural, community, back to bay.

Derwent Valley car club in Gateshead was set up in 2013 with the help of a National Lottery grant.

It was one of the first EV only car clubs in the country, based at a community hall. Funding covered the initial set up of the club and additional funding from DfT and Carplus (now CoMoUK) funded a feasibility study that confirmed demand for the expansion of the car club.

The club now has 5 vehicles across multiple locations and offers a volunteer driver service in addition to car club provision.

Engage with businesses

Community engagement will be most successful when working with a car club provider to demonstrate the benefits of membership and offering incentives for residents to try the service.

Engagement with local businesses will also support car club development.

Businesses have different usage patterns to residents and require vehicles at different times, increasing use of the car club while cutting business travel costs.

Engagement with chambers of commerce, industrial estates, business improvement districts and similar groups will help increase uptake. It will also help to identify any business needs, different vehicle types and specifications, which can then be fed back to a car club provider.

Local authorities have mandatory responsibilities to consult stakeholders where traffic regulation orders are required (for example, to set up dedicated car club parking bays) – further information can be found in the section on providing access to parking.

CoMoUK has produced guidance on community engagement and a business action kit, that include suggested approaches and recommended messages to communicate with groups.

5. Introduce car clubs at new developments

Car clubs can be implemented in new developments (including housing schemes) to support low car neighbourhoods and reduce the need for car parking. CoMoUK have produced guidance on promoting low car neighbourhoods in Scotland.

In England, authorities can make use of section 106 obligations to require developers to establish a car club, either as a direct contribution towards car club set-up and operating costs, via a contribution to the local authority for sustainable transport initiatives. This may include car club provision, or to directly cover the costs of a TRO for a car club bay. Community Infrastructure Levy funds can also be used.

Further information is available from:

• CoMoUK’s 2022 new developments and shared transport guidance
• car club operators Cowheels, Enterprise, Hiyacar and Zipcar

Incentives can be offered to residents of new developments to encourage behaviour change. For example, Coventry City Council introduced mobility credits to provide credits to spend on sustainable travel (such as car clubs) in return for scrapping an older, heavily polluting car.

Implementing car clubs: Bath Riverside development

Type of car club – urban, back to bay

Bath Riverside was designed to promote sustainable travel options and residents are offered incentives to take up walking and cycling, join the car club or use public transport. The development is well served by buses and residents are offered a one month free bus pass, free car club membership and a £100 cycle voucher.

Bath and North East Somerset Council included the Bath Riverside development in its local plan site allocations. Developers then made provision for sustainable travel and car clubs on site, with Enterprise providing the car club.

6. Procure a car club for council staff travel

Car clubs can also be procured for use by council staff as an alternative to grey fleet mileage (personal cars used for work purposes) and to complement pool cars.

These vehicles may be for the sole use of council employees or shared with the public at specific times or days. Sharing use can increase vehicle utilisation rates and improve the financial viability for operators. As with other types of car clubs, local authorities could require or encourage use of electric vehicles. Energy Saving Trust offers guidance on managing business travel.

Implementing EV car clubs: Lancaster City Council

Type of car club: urban, back to bay.

Lancaster City Council is working with Co-Wheels to expand its EV fleet across the city. During business hours, the council will use the vehicles, to reduce business mileage and emissions. In off-peak hours, the vehicles will be available to the public.

The council has invested £114,000 in 6 EVs, paid for through capital borrowing, to be paid back through expected decreases in business mileage claims. It has also invested in improving the city’s EV infrastructure to support the new fleet. The council is expecting emissions from business mileage to decrease by 95% by March 2023, compared to March 2021.

CoMoUK is the national organisation for shared transport. As a charity for the public benefit, it offers free, extensive guidelines for local authorities on car clubs, including car club procurement guidance.