Hackney Car Club Scheme 

The Hackney Car Club Scheme is part of our wider work to increase opportunities for everyone in the borough and make the area safer, cleaner and greener.  

As of January 2011 there are 5,900 registered car club members in Hackney. On average each car club vehicle is used for 8 to 11 hours per day.  As a result of the growing membership base, increased usage and demand from residents the Council is proposing to introduce further on-street Car Club locations this financial year.   

What is a Car Club? 

A car club offers you the convenience of being able to use a clean, modern and reliable vehicle for those trips you cannot do by using public transport, cycling or walking.  

Car Club cars are commonly parked on-street in their own designated bay. Sessions as short as 30 minutes can be booked by Car Club members by phone or via the internet. Cars are placed in areas where they are easily accessible for residents and businesses and it's our aim to ensure that there is a Car Club bay within 3 minutes walk of each household across the entire Council. They provide a convenient alternative to using a privately owned vehicle because Car Club members only pay for what they use and therefore do not have to worry about tax, insurance, parking permits, servicing or repairs. There are none of the hassles of owning and maintaining a car.

Members have access to a car 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with none of the worry and expense of insurance, resident parking permits, garage fees, maintenance and all the other bureaucratic burdens that car owners have to carry. 

Why are we doing this scheme? 

There are three key reasons why we are developing this scheme in Hackney:

• to relieve parking pressures within the borough;
• to reduce the reliance on the private motor-vehicle by residents and businesses;
• to improve the level of social inclusion experienced by residents who can not afford their own car  

How does the Car Club work? 

The most efficient way to deliver this scheme in a cost effective way in Hackney is to work with an existing company that has experience of setting up and running Car Clubs in London. Streetcar has been commissioned as Hackney's Car Club operator.

The Hackney Car Club Scheme is run by Streetcar, the largest car club operator in the United Kingdom. By joining Streetcar you will have access the vehicles located in our borough and the neighbouring boroughs of Islington, Tower Hamlets, City of London and Waltham Forest. You will also be able to book any of the other Streetcar car club vehicles spread all over the UK.

As a member you can book a car online or over the phone as little as 30 minutes ahead of time and use remotely activated smartcards to unlock the vehicle. At the end of the journey you return your car to its dedicated on-street Car Club parking space, so you are always guaranteed a space.  

Residents and businesses can become a member for as little as £50 a year (based on a two year membership) with the cars starting from £5.25 per hour, with the first 20 miles of petrol free.

The cars are available 24 hours a day for rent by the hour, day, week or month.

If you would like to see where the closest bay to you will be on a map, it can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page. 

About the Car Club Parking Bays 

Car Club cars are currently placed in their own on-street parking bays and will continue to operate in this way for all future bays implemented within Hackney. 

Only the Car Club vehicle can park in these bays and they will be designated with the wording 'Car Club Only' on the road way and will be enforceable by Parking Attendants. The location of these parking bays has been selected so as many people in the borough as possible can have access to a Car Club car. 

Some of the car club locations are in areas where there is moderate to high demand for parking. We expect that over time, introducing Car Club bays in these areas will lead to a reduced need for parking. Streetcar and the Council will continue to monitor parking demand to assess whether this happens. If more than 1 resident gives up their car and switches to using the Car Club and other modes of transport in the area near the bay then a reduction in parking pressure could be achieved.

Hackney Car Club bay locations 

2010/2011 notifications

Following consultation in January 2011 at 24 sites across the borough, notifications for 23 sites will be distributed in the week beginning 21 March 2011 outlining the location of Car Club bays for the 2010/2011 roll out.

The Car Club decision audit report (PDF, 194KB) details the consultation response. 

For further information please call transportation on 0208 356 4891 or email movegreener@hackney.gov.uk.

More information 

If you would like to join the Hackney Car Club operated by Streetcar please contact Streetcar by telephone directly on 02030047815.

If you would like to see where the closest bay to you will be on a map, it can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page.

For more information on responsible car use visit the Carplus website via the link on the right of this page.

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Page updated: 8 Dec 2011