New car club bays planned for Highlands
Parking bays are to be created for Highland car clubs.
The Highland Council’s Community Services is running a trial on streets and in car parks around the region.
It will allow vehicles to be made available for hire by joining a car club.
The service will be provided by private companies approved by the council and will begin in late September or early October. The “car club” bays will be fully protected by traffic regulations - and if motorists park in them and are not in a car club vehicle they will be issued with a penalty charge notice.
Cllr Alan Henderson, community services committee chairman, said: “Car clubs provide a cost effective and environmentally friendly service reducing overall vehicle ownership and, therefore, the number of vehicles driving in towns and cities.
“In successful schemes it has been shown that for every car club vehicle eight vehicles are removed from the network.”
During the signing and lining refresh required as a necessary part of “decriminalised parking enforcement”, the council can provide facilities to support a sustainable transport solution, the chairman explained.
Initially 12 car club bays have been installed in Inverness and more are planned for other areas in due course.
Mr Henderson said: “We are committed to creating sustainable transport in the region and car clubs are a good way of reducing vehicle numbers on our roads and therefore emissions.
“We will watch with interest the uptake of this trial scheme once it is up and running.”
Neil MacRae, HITRANS Partnership manager, added: “HITRANS welcome the work that Highland Council is doing to help support car clubs become established in Inverness, with hopefully other towns to follow. In other cities they have been shown to reduce car use and provide people who don’t want to buy a car with a sustainable alternative”
More info: www.carplus.org.uk
