New car sharing scheme for residents and visitors to St Andrews

The Go St Andrews Car Club is the first in a series of low-carbon and shared transport initiatives that will be introduced to the town as part of a broader pilot project in sustainable transport.

The community project is supported by number of local organisations including the University of St Andrews and local place-based sustainability consultancy, Urban Foresight. It is one of first initiatives of the St Andrews Masterplan funded by Transport Scotland.

Care sharing is seen as a way of solving the issue of congestion where there is high car usage and demand for parking spaces.

The scheme is open to residents, commuters and visitors to help them change their travel habits.

Dan Langford, principal consultant at Urban Foresight, said “For many of us, life without a personal vehicle feels like a giant leap. Developments in greener public and shared transport options are critical to creating an accessible, affordable and sustainable transport system across the Scotland, but there will continue to be a need to have access to private cars for decades to come.

There is no single answer to how we reduce the environmental impact of transport whilst continuing to provide the benefits of private vehicles when needed - but local car sharing schemes are a valuable part of the solution.”

The Go St Andrews Car Club has teamed up with Hiyacar, the UK’s longest trading peer to peer car sharing platform.

People can join and either register their vehicle into the local network and make money from their motor when they aren’t using it, or be a user and rent local vehicles by the hour or day.

QuickStart keyless technology uses facial recognition to give the user access to the vehicle avoiding the need for the car owner and renter to meet and exchange keys at the start and end of a rental period.

Businesses are also encouraged to register their fleet vehicles into the network to generate income and help to grow the scheme for all users.

Derek Watson, quaestor and factor of the University of St Andrews says: “I am pleased to welcome the launch of the Go St Andrews Car Club. The car club will provide a mechanism to encourage staff, students and residents to utilise existing car stock within St Andrews and discourage the need to bring individual cars into the town.”

Jane Kell of St Andrews Environment Network commented: “We have high rates of vehicle ownership in St Andrews and many of those cars sit idle for most of the day. It goes without saying that from a climate perspective, we ideally would replace car journeys by cycling, walking and using public transport.

"However, due to our location here in Fife, our residents and visitors are often faced with journeys where a car is the best option. If that’s the case, then why not rent a vehicle only when you need it?”

To join the network or find out more visit: www.hiyacar.co.uk/st-andrews-community-car-club