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Dixie
PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 18:01 
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Pay-as-you-go cars hit city centre roads
Wednesday, 22nd November 2006
Dean Kirby

AN INNOVATIVE car rental scheme aims to help make the future of city centre motoring a little greener.

From today drivers will have access to the city's first pay-by-the-hour cars.

That will mean commuters will be able to travel into the city on public transport and then hop into a hire car whenever they need to. Alternatively city centre residents can do without a car, hiring a vehicle whenever they want to leave the city.

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Bosses at Manchester council hope the scheme, operated by WhizzGo, will create a cost effective alternative to car ownership and help make the city the country's "greenest".

WhizzGo was set up by Charlotte Morton. Ms Morton said: "Aside from the environmental advantages, WhizzGo can save people time and money as well."

She estimates the scheme can save motorists £2,500 a year and will remove the need to hunt for elusive parking spaces in the city.

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The company's fleet includes seven low-emission Citroëns, which are capable of running on a 30 per cent bio-diesel blend. Six are C3 hatchbacks and one is a Citroën Picasso.

The cars will be put in specially-marked parking bays across the city centre and will be available to anyone who has joined a WhizzGo "car club".

Members can access the cars with a smart card and are charged an hourly fee. Bookings can be taken by phone or over the internet.

Eugene Tansey, 47, a business consultant from Sale, has already signed up for the scheme.

He said: "I use the bus and the train, but WhizzGo gives me an additional option to save time."

A council spokesman said: "This will make a big contribution to Manchester's aim of becoming Britain's greenest city."

The cars cost about £4.95 an hour, which includes fully comprehensive insurance, 30 free miles a day and 24-hour breakdown assistance. There is also a charge to join the club and a refundable insurance deposit.

Similar schemes already operate in London, Liverpool, Leeds and York.

More information about the scheme can be found at www.WhizzGo.co.uk or by calling 0870 4466000.

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james25
 Post subject: Anyone used them ?
PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 19:08 
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Hello,

It started sometime ago in the US. Very clever idea indeed.

It is apparently going extremely well for the company in the UK.

But could some users give us some feedback if they have used this shared car scheme ?

Thanks

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antera309
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 19:24 
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Although schemes like this will not impact congestion, they will improve the parking situation immensely and could even help with the drink/drive problem by allowing people to drive-there-and-train-back.

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SafeSpeed
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 22:28 
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I remember 3 or 4 similar schemes in the past that have come and gone. Maybe this is the right deal or the right time. Personally I doubt it, although I quite like the idea. Perhaps it will be beaten by costs or practicalities. Perhaps it will take off.

I'll be watching with interest.

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james25
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 22:42 
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I would like to find the article again. I believe I saw that under the Startup website. They were thinking of passing the million pound turn over in 5 years, and after 2 years of operation. They way passed the million pound.

So, any users or friends of users here who could tell us about the practicality of the scheme ?

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willcove
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 23:41 
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The biggest potential issue that I can see is if commuters take this up in a big way. There'll be massive demand both for the vehicles and for the parking spaces on the way in with little demand on the way out in the morning and vice versa in the evening. So, nearly all the vehicles will go one way with relatively little balancing traffic in the opposite direction.

However, I might have missed something, so I'll watch with interest.

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Gizmo
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 09:31 
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I have wondered how the cars are maintained. If you rent a car they get inspected and cleaned every time they go out. What happens if you curb a wheel, run out of washer fluid, or even have a minor prang.

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greenv8s
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:54 
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Gizmo wrote:
What happens if you ... have a minor prang.


Never going to happen, is it? Nope, it was absolutely fine when I parked it, must have been the next guy that did it.

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nicycle
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 22:30 
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Wouldn't it be easier to nationalise car hire centres and suddenly you can hire a car and return it almost anywhere?
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SafeSpeed
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 22:41 
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nicycle wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to nationalise car hire centres and suddenly you can hire a car and return it almost anywhere?


If we did (and this is a brainstorming question) would cars tend to accumulate anywhere? Are there places that people are more likely to want to drive TO rather then FROM?

I suppose car pools at shopping centres would tend to empty as people wanted a car to carry goods away.

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Ziltro
PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 23:23 
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The company's fleet includes seven low-emission Citroëns, which are capable of running on a 30 per cent bio-diesel blend. Six are C3 hatchbacks and one is a Citroën Picasso.

I've got a C3, do I get free and easy parking?
And where do they get the fuel from? Oh, sorry, they are "capable" of running on 30% biodiesel. :roll:

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Lum
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 02:46 
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SafeSpeed wrote:
nicycle wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to nationalise car hire centres and suddenly you can hire a car and return it almost anywhere?


If we did (and this is a brainstorming question) would cars tend to accumulate anywhere? Are there places that people are more likely to want to drive TO rather then FROM?


I don't know, but I suspect they would quickly run out of hire cars in Slough.

Seriously though, I don't think the scheme in the OP is workable on a large scale. At the moment it will just be the "beardy weirdy" types who are the main users and their driving habits will be, well, weirder. If everyone hopped on then everyone would be wanting a hire period that ends at 9AM and another one that starts at 5PM.

It's the same argument as you have against road user pricing. No-one wants to be on the roads at that time, just inflexible employers mean they have to be.
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jamie_duff
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 18:47 
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All I can see happening is that everyone wants the cars at the same time, either that or move them all to the same place. How does the next person know where to find it? If the parking spaces designated are that centralised you would be as fast on the tube.

Who makes sure the car is somewhere useful when you want it?


Sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth to be honest. Who even fills it with fuel? :?

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adam.L
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 19:55 
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SafeSpeed wrote:
nicycle wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to nationalise car hire centres and suddenly you can hire a car and return it almost anywhere?


If we did (and this is a brainstorming question) would cars tend to accumulate anywhere? Are there places that people are more likely to want to drive TO rather then FROM?

I suppose car pools at shopping centres would tend to empty as people wanted a car to carry goods away.


What's the point? Car users keep getting moaned at for driving around with empty seats. But if you own a car to drive where you are going to and then drive home there are no wasted journey's. If you have loads of eco hire cars and they are not where they are needed someone has to take them there, either one at a time or on a truck. My car and yours are always where they are needed.
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g_attrill
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 20:54 
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This kind of thing is not designed for commuting, it's for people who commute on public transport but need a car every now and then for irregular use, eg. driving to friends one evening, for out-of-town shopping etc.

In the US you must collect and return it to the same car park, and ensure it is has a full tank of fuel, is clean and tidy etc. As mentioned it is ok if is is used by responsible professionals, but all you need is a couple of chav unemployed families and the whole fleet would be trashed in a year.

Gareth
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greenv8s
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:58 
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Wouldn't it be better to have somebody dedicated to looking after the vehicle, make sure it's maintained properly and keep track of any damage (and hopefully stop it happening in the first place), stop kids mucking about with them. This person could even make sure the vehicles were where they were needed, making the fleet more efficient. For example you might want a whole bunch of them at the station come 5pm, but the rest of the day they'd be more useful scattered around town.

Oh, hang on, that's a taxi.

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malcolmw
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 15:44 
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And then there are the thieves and scrap dealers ...

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james25
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 18:36 
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We re talking talking and still no users of the scheme so far...where r they ????

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SafeSpeed
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 18:58 
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james25 wrote:
We re talking talking and still no users of the scheme so far...where r they ????


Eh? With a couple of thousand forum users and a couple of hundreds of users(?) of the scheme, it's extremely unlikely that anyone belongs to both sets.

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handy
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 18:54 
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I seem to recall seeing a system on the TV a while ago - think it was news / current affairs rather than fiction - whereby a bunch of people who lived in a cul de sac with 10 houses and 10 car park spaces decided to buy 10 cars between them (not new ones, a combination of small, medium, large and small vans) and use them as needed. In the first few months / year it seemed to be working OK, always half heartedly wondered if it had been carried on. I can imagine that it fell apart as soon as someone new moved into the street and wanted to use their own car and their own car park spot.

We operate a similar system, we have 2 cars and 2 car park spaces in front of the house. We work out where we are going and how many of us are travelling then take the appropriate car. Or the one that has enough diesel. We call it "being a 2 car family". Some friends of ours have adopted our scheme, but as they have a 2-cars-long rather than 2-cars-wide driveway, they use the "take the car at the back" method to decide which car to use.

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