'Drive on demand' car-sharing scheme reaches Birmingham

The scheme will run for 12 months

More than 250 cars will be available to drivers in Birmingham in a new car-sharing venture.

Members of the car2go scheme will be charged 35p per minute to rent one of the Smart cars which can be picked up from legal on-street parking spaces, a spokesman said.

Drivers can locate the nearest vehicle via the company's website or a smartphone app.

Birmingham City Council said the project will run for 12 months.

'Easy on the pocket'

Set up by Daimler and Europcar, it has already been launched in three boroughs Islington in London and runs in 18 other cities in Europe and the US, the firms said.

A council spokesman said the idea of being able to spontaneously rent the cars without having to use fixed rental stations would encourage people to think of alternatives to bringing their cars into the city.

"They can be used as long as needed and then left in a pay & display bay without time restrictions and wherever it is free to park without affecting resident or business parking within a defined business area," he said.

"It's a whole new way of getting around the city, easy to use, easy on the pocket and easy on the environment."

The project covers about a 50 sq-km (20sq-m) area.

Roy Wilcox, from car2go, said they wanted to launch the scheme across an entire city and Birmingham seemed the most suitable.

"It's the biggest city council in England and we wanted a whole city launch and after London, it was a natural choice," he said.

"The pre take-up here has been massive, we're very happy with that.

"The cars are the lowest CO2 cars you can get, they're nippy and fun.

"The time is right for this - as petrol prices and insurance goes up and peoples' salaries aren't really going up, people are looking to shave their budgets and help the environment."

Esther Perry said she thought it would be good for people to 'nip around' in

Julien Pritchard, from Friends of the Earth, said he would be looking to see if it detracts from people using bikes.

"It depends how they use them and who is using them but they could be really positive." he said.

"They have lower emissions than most cars and the way people can pick them up is good.

"But, if it takes people away from bikes, public transport and walking then that's not so good."

Esther Perry, who drives from her home in Wolverhampton to where she works in Birmingham, said she had not considered joining the scheme.

"I don't think I need to use it really because I already drive in, but I can see how it would appeal to people to get around the city centre if you didn't know the bus number you needed perhaps.

"It would be good for people who live here and need to nip around."