16 March 2009
Celebrating 10 years of Edinburgh's car club – the longest established commercial British car club
The City of Edinburgh Council and Transform Scotland Trust are this Thursday (19th March) holding a conference in Edinburgh's City Chambers to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment in Edinburgh of Britain's first commercial car club, and to look ahead at opportunities for innovation in the transport sector over the next decade. [1]
Chas Ball, founder of City Car Club [1], said:
“Edinburgh has a number of initiatives that make it distinctive in transport and land use planning – high levels of cycling and the introduction of a new tram network to complement a well supported bus network help to keep car use at bay. The car club, which is planning to offer its 100th car location this year, is another part of the portfolio that is finally being recognized as an important alternative to car ownership.
"The conference will provide the opportunity for lessons to be shared with cities across Europe. It'll be interesting to consider what a city like Edinburgh might looks like in 10 years time with a new tram system, a larger car club, a city-wide bike hire scheme, and an interchangeable travelcard allowing travel on buses, train, trams, bikes and car club cars."
Conference organiser Richard Armitage said [3]:
"The City of Bremen, in north-west Germany, was an inspiration for the Edinburgh car club. A key speaker at the forthcoming conference is Michael Glotz Richter, who works on sustainable transport strategy for the City State of Bremen. Glotz Richter is no stranger to Edinburgh – he assisted in the public awareness raising prior to launch of the car club in the late 1990s. This time he is coming to share his experience of integrating transport modes – the bus, tram, bicycle and car club. Using a German city of half a million people with its different transportation modes seamlessly integrated makes sense if you want a glimpse of what is possible to integrate car clubs in cities like Edinburgh, Bristol or Brighton,”
Speakers at the conference include:
* Dr Jillian Anable, from the UK Energy Research Centre and Aberdeen University – on the challenge of energy efficiency and carbon reduction in an efficient transport system
* Michael Glotz-Richter, sustainable transport officer at the City State of Bremen – on creating sustainable transport where choice of modes is made easier by good quality, low cost and a single Bremen karte
* Cllr Phil Wheeler, Convener of the Transport, Infrastructure & Environment Committee at The City of Edinburgh Council – heralding a bright new future decade for the car club – provider of car pool services to CEC
* Diane McLafferty, Acting Director, Transport at the Scottish Government
* Joachim Schwarz, CEO of Cambio, which runs car clubs all over Germany and Belgium on the opportunities to make this mainstream service for residents and businesses.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
[1] City Car Club
City Car Club, the operator of the Edinburgh car club, has been pioneering the local development since 2002 - part of 60,000 strong car club UK membership. See <http://www.citycarclub.co.uk/> for further details.
[2] Transform Scotland Trust
The Transform Scotland Trust carries out research and education on sustainable transport. See <http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/tst.aspx> for information.
[3] Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy
The conference is being organised by the Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy on behalf of sustainable transport charity Transform Scotland Trust and The City of Edinburgh Council. For full details on the conference see <http://www.ratransport.co.uk/carclubconf.html>. The conference has an optional technical tour and a reception on March 18th.
END OF NEWS RELEASE