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

  • Less travel aggravation to blunt Aggieland fans’ motivation
    June 17, 2016
    Returning travel times to normal within two hours of the end of a major football game was the challenge facing College Station, Adam Lyons explains how this was achieved. College Station, TX, also known as ‘Aggieland’, is located right in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston triangle making the city accessible to over 14 million Texans within less than a four-hour drive. One of the biggest draws to this area is Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the Aggie football games in the fall, mea
    Read More
  • TEXpress adds reversible managed lanes
    April 19, 2017
    Land availability restrictions and tidal traffic flows have led to the implementation of a novel managed lane configuration in Texas, as Colin Sowman finds out. Dealing with traffic congestion related to the ‘tidal flows’ caused by large numbers of commuters making their way into major business hubs in the morning and returning to the suburbs in the evening, has seen the widespread use of adaptive signal timing and even reversible lanes.
    Read More
  • Up to 120 London underground stations to get free wi-fi this year
    March 22, 2012
    Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has confirmed that a contract has been awarded to Virgin Media to provide public access wi-fi at up to 120 underground station platforms at zero cost to the fare or taxpayer. The new service will launch as a free, unlimited service for all tube passengers this summer and will continue to offer free live Transport for London (TfL) travel information via a new online portal after this period. Virgin Media, in partnership with London Underground, will initially introduce wi-
    Read More
  • Transcore challenges perceptions, targets broader markets
    December 13, 2012
    In August this year, Tracy Marks took over the presidency of TransCore, succeeding John Simler, who has moved on to other roles within parent company Roper Industries. A 19-year veteran of the company, Marks describes himself as having been groomed for the job. Previously responsible for TransCore’s Southern region in the US, he also took on a series of roles, including the top job at United Toll Systems, as part of moves which were carefully choreographed to prepare him for where he is now. The appointmen
    Read More

Highlighted Content