Car Clubs Help The Highland Council Drive Ahead

2nd June 2018

The Highland Council, in partnership with Enterprise Car Club an E-Car Club, have recently launched car clubs at multiple Council offices throughout the region. The scheme's newest location, Fort William, is being launched on 4th June 2018 and will form part of a 6-month pilot.

The Council recently undertook a review its grey fleet, where staff and Members use their own cars to deliver services, and this review identified that the car club model would be an appropriate way to reduce both costs and risk to the organisation.

Staff from the Council's Climate Change team and Travel Desk have been working closely with two car club operators - Enterprise Car Club and E-Car Club - to pilot the car club model at key sites within the Council’s estate. The purpose of the pilot is to displace costly grey fleet and car hire journeys by rolling out car club vehicles, initially at the locations detailed below:

• Highland Council HQ, Inverness – 5 cars (Enterprise Car Club)

• Charles Kennedy Building, Fort William – 2 cars (E-Car Club)

• Camaghael Hostel, Fort William – 1 car (E-Car Club)

• County Buildings, Dingwall – 3 cars (E-Car Club)

• Drummuie, Golspie – 3 cars (E-Car Club)

The overall objective is to create an easily accessible, self-serve alternative to private vehicle use at locations where significant levels of grey fleet mileage and car hire originate.

Chair of the Council’s Environment, Development & Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Allan Henderson, said: "We are delighted to see car club vehicles being rolled out at offices throughout the region. Our staff cover a huge geographical area in delivering services to the people of Highland, and by providing them with safe, modern, low-emission vehicles, we are helping them to do that without having to rely on their own cars."

He added: "The Highland Council is committed to creating sustainable transport in the region, and car clubs are an excellent way of reducing vehicle numbers on our roads, as well as harmful emissions. We very much hope that this pilot is a success and that we can have a wider roll out of the scheme towards the end of the year."

Keith Stark, Scotland Manager at Enterprise Car Club, said: “Enterprise has been renting cars in Highland for many years, and we are absolutely delighted to now have the opportunity to extend that service to The Highland Council. The service will provide flexibility to Council staff to rent a car either by the hour or by the day, right on their doorstep, whenever they need it, and will mean that many staff can now get to work by alternative means, knowing that they have cars available to book at a moments’ notice.”

Malcolm McRobert, Locations Manager (Scotland) at E-Car Club, said: “The Highland Council has recognised that car clubs can provide an efficient, cost effective and low carbon means of delivering services to the people of Highland. E-Car Club are pleased to be helping deliver the Council’s vision at various locations including Dingwall, Fort William and Golspie, and we’re confident that staff will soon see the benefits of the car club model over using their own vehicles.”