People have told us that the main motivation for joining a car share scheme is the environmental and health benefits it brings. But there are also user benefits which mean that access to a shared car – when you need it – is better than having to maintain your own car all the time.
Personal and Financial Benefits
- Removes the hassle of car ownership: POD arranges for MOTs, servicing, insurance, etc, so you don’t have to. In addition, you don’t have to struggle to find, or pay for, a car parking space.
- Reduced costs: the average annual cost to run a car is £3,800 per year, and rising year on year, which is higher than using a POD car for even a significant number of trips.
- Avoid many unexpected costs: it’s easier to budget your costs with a car share scheme because you pay a regular, monthly user fee and can easily know in advance how much you’re going to spend for a journey. So no unexpected maintenance costs. There is of course still an insurance excess should you have an accident in a POD car or cause it substantial damage.
- Increased mobility: residents without a car, or who cannot afford a car, will be able to make journeys and reach destinations not possible with public transport.
- Saves space at home: you can get rid of all that car repair/maintenance stuff hanging around the house/garage, as well as child seats, bicycle racks and mobility aids: POD provides these for you.
- Modern hybridvehicle: no more worrying about whether an old car will break down during your journey: POD cars are modern models, more environmentally friendly, regularly serviced and maintained. And in the unlikely event one does break down, they have breakdown cover included.
- Opportunity to use a hybrid (partly electric) vehicle: if you haven’t used an automatic hybrid/electric car before, this is a great chance to get familiar with them. And the POD cars can make a big difference if you need to enter certain urban low emission zones.
Environmental and Health Benefits
At the local level, reducing car ownership and the number of local trips by car and increasing active travel journeys brings clear benefits:
- a cleaner, more pleasant local environment, particularly in town centres;
- reduced exposure to pollution: at present, transportation is the number one cause of CO2 in Calderdale;
- reduced demand for car parking: by reducing car ownership, we reduce the competition for space to park cars. This is a key and often contentious issue in a steep-sided valley where space is limited and few houses have driveways;
- by breathing cleaner air, we’ll all have fewer respiratory diseases;
- decreasing time spent driving, and increasing the amount that we walk, run and cycle, brings health benefits for our back, gut and muscles.
At the broadest level, this will mean that POD will make a major contribution to Calderdale’s Net Zero target by 2038.
Community and Land Benefits
By reducing the number of cars on the road, car-clubs reduce both traffic and competition for parking space.
- Contributing to creating less car-dominated town centres, where greater space is given to other purposes that benefit local residents – enabling more space for parks, businesses and residential areas;
- encourage active travel/use of public transport: using a shared car makes you think twice about other ways to get to where you need to be, giving you that extra nudge to walk, cycle or get the bus/train when you can.
- economic benefits from reduced traffic/congestion: a reduction in the loss of working hours and increased productivity associated with fewer private vehicles on the road;
An economically viable car club operating in the Calder Valley will:
- reduce car ownership: our survey research with members of Hour Car (a previous car club in the area) shows that their scheme led to people not buying or giving up their cars. This has a clear economic benefit for local residents;
- reduce car dependency: by reducing the number of car owners, car dependency is reduced as people are less reliant on their privately-owned vehicles;
- increase use of public transport: research shows that car clubs result in reduced car ownership which has the knock-on effect of increasing public transport journeys;
- increase active travel journeys: it also has the knock-on effect of more journeys made on foot or by bicycle, with associated health benefits.