Harrogate Borough Council‘s car hire club has been used 927 times over the past year, with 100 members clocking up 38,590 miles.
The council launched the initiative in August last year in partnership with car club operator Co-Wheels. It aims to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.
The fleet of nine hybrid cars in Harrogate town centre offers pay-as-you-go hire ranging from 30 minutes to a week.
Hybrid cars combine petrol or diesel engine with electric motors. Electric power can be activated in urban areas to reduce air pollution.
The council said in a statement the scheme has removed 2.9 tonnes of CO2 compared to driving personal cars.
Each car is based in a designated zone and comes with a parking permit that allows parking anywhere in Harrogate.
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Conservative councillor Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:
“Despite a difficult 18 months for everyone, the figures from the past 12 months are encouraging to see and show people have a desire to help reduce carbon emission across the Harrogate district.
“I hope more people utilise this scheme moving forward and reduce the number of cars in their household as well as the dependency of owning a car.”
Richard Falconer, managing director of Co Wheels, added:
‘Green’ car club launches in Harrogate“There’s a lot of great work going on to reduce carbon emissions in Harrogate and we are pleased to see membership increasing and usage of the vehicles start so strongly during the first 12 months.”
A ‘green’ car club has launched in Harrogate where you can hire low-emission vehicles by the hour.
Motorists sign up to a membership and can then book the cars online with as little as 30 minutes notice.
The scheme is backed by Harrogate Borough Council and the first ten hybrid cars are parked around Harrogate at HBC’s on-street parking spots including Montpellier, Commercial Street and Franklin Road.
The hourly rate for a hybrid Toyota Yaris is £5.50 an hour and the daily rate is £38.50.
Durham-based social enterprise Co-Wheels runs similar car clubs around the country. Rebecca Townend from Co-Wheels told the Stray Ferret that she hopes Harrogate’s environmentally-minded public will get on board.
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Co-Wheels has a special introductory offer for people in Harrogate available on its website.
She said:
“It’s the first car club there’s ever been in Harrogate so it’s about educating people so they can give it a go.”
Hybrid cars combine petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor. Electric power can be activated in urban areas to reduce air pollution.
Ms Townend said they hope to introduce fully electric models at some point in the future.
According to the Department for Transport, Harrogate currently has 42 public electric vehicle charging points, which is above the national average.