Traffic in London
(Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)According to analysis by transport charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK), more than one million Londoners could benefit by switching from a privately owned car to a shared club, and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
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.
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.
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.
TfL are likely to encourage Londoners to make the switch, as London Mayor Sadiq Khan remains concerned that while car traffic has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels, the number of those using public transport remains at around two-thirds of peak usage.
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