A car exhaust in the city
(Picture: Getty Images)A million more Londoners could ditch their cars and switch to a shared car club, according to an analysis of travel habits.
This would reduce dramatically the number of private car trips and lead to a big cut in emissions in line with Sadiq Khan’s green targets, campaigners say.
A report commissioned by the transport charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) estimated that 650,000 additional households in the capital — equal to 1,105,000 residents — could rely on a car club to meet their needs.
This would almost triple the number of Londoners belonging to car clubs — at present, 623,910 people share 3,482 vehicles. Membership has more than doubled since 2019.
With approximately 50 car club members for each car, it would require an additional 21,000 vehicles, which would result in about 300,000 fewer privately owned cars on the roads, including 194,000 vehicles not compliant with the ultra low emission zone.
The report, Driving London Forward, found that four south London boroughs topped the list of households that could switch to a car club — Lambeth (37,540), Lewisham (32,805), Southwark (37,322) and Wandsworth (35,058).
Hillingdon (6,643), Barking and Dagenham (6,660) and Bexley (8,323) had the fewest convertible households.
The report used a series of parameters to calculate how many households could switch to a car club, including making fewer than five trips a week, no more than five in the family and having a good base level of public transport in their neighbourhood.
The research, by consultancy Steer, found that each car club car in London “displaces” 23.5 owned cars. It also offers drivers access to a greener fleet of vehicles — 11 per cent of the capital’s car club fleet is electric.
For members who drive less than 6,000 to 8,000 miles per year, a car club could save them up to £3,500, according to CoMoUK. There would be 24 million fewer car trips a year, reducing carbon emissions by 82,000 tonnes.
There are currently 2.7million private cars in London, making it the single most dominant transport mode.
Mr Khan is concerned that road congestion returned to pre-pandemic levels after the first Covid wave while weekday Tube journeys are stuck at two-thirds of normal.
His aim is for 80 per cent of journeys to be made sustainably by 2041, and for London to be a “net zero” city in terms of carbon emissions by 2030. But the so-called “modal share” has fallen from 63 per cent to 58 per cent.
The report’s findings will be shared with TfL and the Mayor’s office. It said TfL should promote car clubs as part of a package of alternatives to the private car.
It also wants TfL to co-establish with London councils an electric vehicle charging infrastructure that gives car clubs preferential access.
Richard Dilks, chief executive of CoMoUK, said: “London has strong ambitions to cut its transport emissions but faces equally strong challenges in doing so.
“Our analysis found 650,000 households in London could give up a privately-owned car, with huge benefits for everyone in the city.
“As London emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic into a changed world, car clubs and other shared transport options should be a permanent and integrated part of the options.”
