Birmingham’s transport system set to receive a ‘green’ boost

City Car Club is set to start work with Birmingham City Council to provide an enhanced service that will help reduce the city’s carbon emissions, congestion and parking pressure.

City Car Club has been operating a successful car club in Birmingham since 2008, with many residents and businesses already signed up to use the service. The operator has now been named as the cities official car club partner for the use of designated on-street parking bays after successfully completing a competitive process.

Until now, Birmingham City Car Club has been a relatively small scale operation, but thanks to this new partnership with the city council, who have agreed to provide an initial supply of on-street parking bays, the club is hoping to grow significantly over the coming months and years.

City Car Club has more than 500 self-service cars and in some locations vans, located across 14 cities nationwide. The cars and vans can be booked by the hour, day or as long as needed in advance, or at the last minute. Insurance, road tax, repairs, cleaning and fuel are all included.

Independent research by Carplus, the national charity promoting responsible car use, shows that on average, each City Car replaces 25 privately owned cars and that members generally cut down on unnecessary car journeys by 35% after they join.

The new bays, the first of which is due to launch shortly at Warstone Lane in the Jewellery Quarter, mean that more and more people will be able to benefit from the convenience of having a self-service, pay-as-you-go vehicle located just around the corner from where they live and work.

City Car Club managing director James Finlayson said: “We’re delighted to be expanding the Birmingham City Car Club and have plans to introduce new City Cars and possibly even vans at various locations over the next few years. We’re confident that we can help improve congestion and reduce CO2 emissions in the city, at the same time as offering residents a convenient and cost effective alternative to car ownership.”