Transport for London are failing the city’s car clubs according to report

A new report by the Transport Committee of the London Assembly has highlighted the failings of TfL in helping develop the city’s car clubs which, despite being supported by the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, are shrinking in terms of users, vehicles and operators.

In the foreword to the report, Elly Baker AM, Chair of the Transport Committee summed up the problem: ‘There just doesn’t seem to be any drive to make car clubs a genuine option for more Londoners.’

While car club use is broadly increasing across the UK, London has long been at the centre of picture and there it is decreasing. The number of active car club users in capital fell 22% between 2021 and 2023, while the number of cars in the scheme fell 18%.

 In research undertaken by the Transport Committee last December, only 8% of people questioned expected to use a car club vehicle in the next 12 months.

In 2022 Transport for London announced that they would support car clubs in London, issuing six commitments to that end. However TfL’s evidence to the committee – delivered by Alina Tuerk, Head of Roads and Freight Strategy – was that TfL were worried that more car club vehicles could ‘lead to an increased take-up of car trip[s] by those who currently do not own a car.’

In response to this, Andy Flood, Principal Transport Planner at Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, told the committee: ‘Every single piece of research that I have seen, including the CoMoUK annual reports and international reports, show that car clubs have a net benefit in terms of reducing car ownership and reducing car use.’

The committee felt that TfL’s position was not supported by any compelling evidence and that their research was flawed – for example, only one of the nine papers TfL referred to in their desktop research supported the claim that car clubs might increase overall car use, while five said the opposite. 

In the new report, the Transport Committee make three recommendations:

1. ‘In the next London Plan, the Mayor should recognise the important part that car clubs can and should play in London’s transport mix. This should include support for car clubs by recognising them as an option that enables people to reduce their car use or give up their private car.’

2. ‘Within the next 12 months the Mayor should, through TfL and working with London’s boroughs, develop and seek to reach agreement on a pan-London action plan for car clubs. This action plan should address the low provision of car clubs in outer London, providing car clubs with equal or lower financial exemptions than private cars, and guidelines on parking bay provision.’

3. ‘As part of its work on a pan-London action plan for car clubs, TfL should develop and roll out an awareness-raising campaign. To assist in creating a wide and diverse user base, this should inform Londoners on what car clubs are, how they can access them, and the benefits that they provide.’

   
   

Elly Baker AM, added: ‘The benefits of car clubs are obvious – allowing Londoners to use a car when needed, without the ongoing costs of owning a private vehicle, and delivering a positive impact on street space and congestion.

‘Yet TfL’s approach is overlooking these benefits, and not providing the support that the industry needs to grow.

‘A TfL action plan to support car clubs is needed to fix spotty provision, increase awareness, and help take off the handbrake on car clubs in London.’

Richard Dilks, chief executive of CoMoUK, said: ‘This is an important and timely report. It sets out helpful steps to better realise the potential of car clubs in London, and therefore boost the use of public transport and active travel in the capital.

‘Its recommendations for the Mayor to produce a pan-London action plan on car clubs within the next year, feature car clubs appropriately in the next London Plan, and produce an awareness campaign, are all solid starting points.

‘The capital once led the way in this area, but is now sadly lagging behind other major European cities.

‘Our research has repeatedly found that car clubs lead to reduced numbers of private cars and reduced car mileage and are linked to public transport and active travel.

‘All this while users repeatedly tell us they are saving money, avoiding the hassle that comes with owning their own car, and reducing their carbon footprint.

‘Car clubs also help to make people more active, with members more likely to walk or cycle short journeys than those who have access to a private car and use it by default.

‘London as a whole would also benefit from increased car club membership, with less traffic congestion, improvements in air quality, and more street space.’

The full report can be read here.