GoCar, the instant and on-street car rental service, says that its research shows that an expansion of its services could take as many as 300,000 cars off Irish roads.
The study showed that almost one-in-five Irish car owners (18 per cent to be exact) said that they intend to get rid of their family's second car in the coming years.
A fifth say they'd 'not bother' with a car
A pretty much equal number - 20 per cent - said that they would not bother with car ownership at all if instant and on-street rentals became easier in their area, and it's from this figure that GoCar extrapolates the potential 300,000 vehicle reduction - based on the figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that 1.5 million households own a car.
Some 78 per cent said that they would not give up their car, however, citing grocery shopping as the biggest barrier to them doing so. A total of 70 per cent did say that they would be more likely to give up their car if public transport provision was improved. Increasing motoring costs would likely convince more to giving up their car (65 per cent of respondents said this), while wanting to cycle more often (41 per cent) and reducing one's carbon footprint (35 per cent) were other possible reasons for abandoning car ownership.
The survey covered 1,201 people across the whole of Ireland, and GoCar says that one of the most important findings is the continuing heavy reliance on cars in the country.
According to the CSO, 760,000 households in Ireland have more than one car, while GoCar says its research shows that one in five (21 per cent) respondents have two or more cars, and over a quarter of this group were those with children (28 per cent).
Need a car for work and family
Half of those who own more than one car say that it's needed to manage their family's transport needs, while 38 per cent say that it's needed for work. That said, there does seem to be some guilt about all this - 16 per cent said that "they feel guilty about the environmental impacts of multiple cars in the household."
Some 60 per cent said that it's the lack of public transport options which is keeping them in car ownership, while 54 per cent say that it's needing a car to get to and from work that's holding them back. One in ten said that they need a car because others rely on them for transport (it's mostly men who say this - 16 per cent versus 8 per cent of women), while 20 per cent said that they'd like to use the car less, but the alternatives are not immediately obvious.
A total of 51 per cent said that they drive every day, and that's a proportion that increases as you go up through the age groups. It's those aged between 45 and 55 who are most likely to both have children and have a multi-car household.
Some 37 per cent of GoCar's respondents said that they use the car for work commutes, while 26 per cent use it for the school run. Another 15 per cent said they use their car every day for grocery shopping.
Almost a third - 29 per cent - of these journeys covers less than five kilometres each, and the highest proportion covering such short distances was not surprisingly in Dublin. Interestingly, usage data from GoCar shows that the average distance of a return GoCar trip is 86km.
Freedom from running costs
Some 27 per cent said that they are familiar with car-sharing services such as GoCar, while 41 per cent said that they're more likely to use such a service if there's a car available as and when they need it, while the main perceived benefit of using such a service is that you don't need to worry about maintenance or running costs.
According to figures from the AA, the average annual distance driven by a private car owner is 16,000km costing an average of €10,691. Without the burden of insurance, tax, fuel, maintenance and NCT, the equivalent annual cost of driving 16,000km in a GoCar is estimated by the company at €3,600, based on an average hourly cost of €11.25.
Paul McNeice, Head of Country for Europcar Mobility Group, of which GoCar is a part, said "We have the potential to remove nearly 1,000,000 cars from Irish roads. The GoCar Index identifies the over reliance on private cars in Ireland, but we all know this comes at a price - the cost of running a car, the environmental impact, as well as increasing congestion. The NTA recently highlighted that simple changes such as walking and cycling could take 680,000 cars off the road every day. As the leading car sharing platform in Ireland, GoCar has a pivotal role to play in this reduction with the opportunity remove a further 300,000 private cars through better use of our car sharing service."
Joe Quirke, Head of GoCar, said, "We have invested €10 million to increase our fleet to more than 1,100 vehicles across 600 locations in Ireland making car sharing even more convenient and accessible. We've also invested in our app to facilitate an even more seamless experience. GoCar provides a cost-effective alternative to car ownership which not only addresses the financial burdens associated with car ownership but also contributes to reducing carbon footprints and helping to reduce the number of cars taking unnecessary journeys. A recent poll of our GoCar users showed that 60 per cent would look to purchase a car if the service ceased."