Streetcar named 'get me outta here' 16 | 08 | 2011

AMIDST ALL THE talk about the growth in car sharing, Streetcar — which offered residents up to £80 to hire out their driveways to park 'multi-use hire cars' — has closed its Glasgow operation only 14 months after it launched. The company has also scaled back its Edinburgh project.

When it was launched in both cities in May last year, Streetcar promised to offer 10 cars in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Members gained access to the cars by using an online booking system to book the vehicle for specific time slots, and as a result was perceived as being agreener alternative to owning a car.

But the company, which faced competition from council-backed car club schemes in both cities, has confirmed it has quit Glasgow and has scaled back its operation in Edinburgh to two vehicles.

"For some time, we have experienced such significant demand from other areas of our network that it has become necessary to relocate these vehicles,” a spokesman, who also stated the company said it had chosen to focus on its eight other UK operations, explained.

Car-share launched in Glasgow

Streetcar had secured five spaces in Glasgow’s city centre and west end — having offered residents between £50 and £80 to hire out their driveways — when it was launched, while six slots were established in Edinburgh.

However, it lost out in a bid to run the council-backed car club in Glasgow, which was launched in September last year following the success of a similar scheme in Edinburgh.

James Finlayson, the managing director of City Car Club — which runs the two rival car clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh — confirmed last week the Glasgow operation was proving popular, with 450 members sharing 16 vehicles.

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Mark Stephens