Auckland Transport Media Release

06 December 2011

Auckland Transport and Cityhop to trial designated car share spaces

Auckland Transport and car share service company Cityhop have launched an eighteen month trial for car sharing using three designated on-street parking spaces in key locations, with a view of expanding to ten car park spaces. The parking spaces, on Hobson St, College Hill, and Williamson Ave, are signposted as designated for car share vehicles.

By trialing the use of designated on-street parking for car share vehicles, Auckland Transport hopes to increase the uptake of car sharing in Auckland as a means of helping to reduce one person vehicles adding to the city’s congestion levels. Car sharing is well established in Australia, where the city of Sydney trialed 10 dedicated on-street parking spaces in 2007 and now supports over 4000 car share members through the provision of nearly 200 parking spaces.

Cityhop offers cars by the hour to members at multiple locations across Auckland and Wellington via a swipe card 24 hours a day. “Owning a car encourages you to drive. Car share is the ‘emergency wheels’ for those who use public transport and sometimes need a car when they are at work. It’s a lot more affordable and more flexible than a taxi,” says Cityhop co-founder Victoria Carter.

“Cityhop is an affordable solution for people to use a car when they need one, without the high cost of car ownership. People who car share find they drive less and businesses find they don’t need fleet cars.”

Auckland Transport Parking and Operations Manager Eunan Cleary says: “Car sharing is a legitimate part of the transport mix, encouraging greater public transport use and reduced car ownership in a city which has an overabundance of vehicles. Auckland Transport is pleased to support the uptake of car sharing in Auckland through the provision of designated on street parking for car share services.”

As part of the trial, Cityhop will provide Auckland Transport with regular reports on membership uptake and usage rates for each car. Cityhop has over 450 individual members, over 10,000 registered drivers and over 70 corporate companies including government departments and universities. Cityhop recently won the Design and Innovation award at the sustainable business network convention.

ENDS

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