Ireland's first car sharing scheme - gocar.ie - is launching in Dublin this week (1 September 2010). The scheme, in operation in Cork city and county for the last 18 months, will initially have two cars available from Pleasant Street, off Camden Street in Dublin City.
gocar.ie is seen as an alternative to car ownership and allows subscribed members to share in the use of a pool of vehicles by reserving a time allocation online in advance. On arrival, members open the reserved vehicle via their smart card and drive away from €4.75 per hour. In the current gocar.ie fleet is a selection from Ford's Fiesta, Focus and Transit ranges.
Travel consultant, Graham Lightfoot, is the founder of gocar.ie and fellow director, Marc Rafferty, says "gocar.ie has the potential to have a 40:1 replacement ratio for private cars". gocar.ie is an alternative to car ownership or a family's need for a second car. It is hoped that councils and other bodies around the country will provide for the expansion of the scheme by including spaces on city and council development plans and other transport and parking measures.
The gocar.ie Dublin scheme will be officially launched on 22 September 2010 by Ciaran Cuffe, T.D. Minister of State with special responsibility for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage. This will coincide with the European Mobility Week awareness campaign.
See gocar.ie for more information.