Peer-to-peer car-sharing cuts council’s travel costs

A new peer-to-peer car sharing scheme is helping one council slash the cost of workers’ transport.
July 14, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

A new peer-to-peer car sharing scheme is helping one council slash the cost of workers’ transport.

Peer-to-peer car sharing company HiyaCar’s QuickStart service uses an encrypted ‘virtual key’ sent to the driver’s mobile phone, allowing them to unlock, start and lock the vehicle they have hired. Vehicle owners fits a device to the diagnostic port in their car which enables it to be unlocked and started when activated by the ‘virtual key’ transmitted from the driver’s mobile phone via Bluetooth.

As the hire finishes, the driver uploads live footage of the vehicle as evidence of its condition, the ‘virtual key’ expires and the vehicle owner receives around 70% of the hire charge. According to HiyaCar, as the owner need not be present for the hand-over, QuickStart enables no-notice, short duration rental and a cost is typically lower than traditional car rental.

The council replaced a pool of four permanent hired vehicles with three cars owned by full-time office-based employees who were enrolled into a ring-fenced version of QuickStart that enables other council employees to use those cars during the day.  The council only pays when the car(s) are being used and previously occupied parking spaces are available for visitors.

HiyaCar checks the vehicle’s, owner’s and driver’s credentials and bespoke insurance covers the cost of any damage or breakdowns. While currently only active in London, the company plans to expand into other cities. 

Related Content

  • Want intelligent transit? Then share data
    March 2, 2022
    How will the US deploy intelligent transit networks that enable connected vehicles? Data sharing is crucial if urban mobility users are to benefit, explains Timothy Menard of Lyt
    Read More
  • Technology and finance shapes up to make MaaS happen
    June 7, 2017
    The technology and finance aspects needed for Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to become widely adopted are taking shape as Geoff Hadwick and Colin Sowman hear. Sampo Hietanen, CEO of MaaS Global and ‘father’ of MaaS, started his address to ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference in London by saying: “All of the problems that can be solved by a company or group of companies have already been solved, and now we are left with the big ones such as housing, transport and health. He called MaaS the “Netfli
    Read More
  • Robin Chase interview: Heaven and hell
    June 13, 2018
    A shared vision - or even much of a conversation at all - about what a better mobility balance looks like has been lacking…until now. Andrew Stone speaks to Zipcar founder Robin Chase about fairness – and the importance of not demonising cars
    Read More
  • Partnership to provide real-time location sharing while driving
    June 11, 2012
    Mercedes-Benz and Glympse, a mobile technology company that pioneered temporary real-time location sharing, are teaming up to provide real-time location sharing to their drivers by integrating Glympse into the new Mercedes-Benz Digital DriveStyle application, set to launch in the new A-Class in September. Drivers will be able to select a recipient, set a timer, and ‘send a Glympse’ to anyone they choose. The recipient will receive a text or email link, which will show the driver’s real-time location on an i
    Read More

Highlighted Content