The news about Zipcar is very depressing. I can't help but think if the economics of a car-club monopoly (or close to it) do not work in a city of c.10m, then something has gone badly wrong in policy making at a borough, city or national level.
I've never owned a car as Zipcar and it's predecessor Streetcar met my needs - shopping, the odd day out, the journey to the tip. More recently, it's meant that I could take my blind and mobility restricted father in law whom we now live with to (endless) appointments, visit friends and, frankly, anywhere not within a 500m radius without taxis and stress. There must be tens of thousands of people who could tell similar stories.
Despairing at this news. I don’t often use Zipcar but whenever I do there’s not really any alternative and I’m always very happy to have done so. This is going to make life much more difficult for a lot of Londoners.
This is killing me. One of the reasons I used ZipCar is because from time to time we could go for a big shopping in a decent supermarket outside the hell that is zone 2 east London, or get some plants. Basically I moved to Stepney because of the convenience and since I moved here there is one big supermarket gone, the cinema gone, now ZipCar gone, all convenience stores and really bad take aways,making the area poor and expensive. Now with ZipCar gone I have to depend on delivery for these shops and I hate it.
This news is genuinely upsetting. I don't want to own a car, I don't want to add to the congestion in this city, but I rely on using Zipcars 2-3 times a month.
Without Zipcar, it seems the only reasonable alternative is to buy a car that'll clog roads and sit unused the majority of the time. Residential parking permits are dirt cheap, anyway.
I'm sure this will lead to an uptick of people like myself buying cars. It's outrageous that TfL/Mayor of London wouldn't make an exception on the electric congestion charge for car sharing clubs.
We should be encouraging or even subsidising their existence, not pushing them out of business.
Would be fascinating to know how much Zipcar has to spend in total in parking / licensing fees to London Boroughs. It seems like it's £1000-2000 per vehicle.
Scrapping them wouldn't be enough to fully address Zipcar's unprofitability, but I am sure it would help. Seems absolutely wild to charge more than residential permits, given the social good arising from car clubs.
Since returning to London 11 years ago we decided not to buy a car but instead rely on public transport and Zip cars when we needed them. More recently my wife has started a small gardening business and books a Zip van at least once a week. This is a terrible loss for London. Our street (Vauxhall) is mostly free of cars but there’ll be another van clogging up the road in the new year. I’m sure many other small businesses will be suffering. Sad times.
“The Mayor’s Transport Strategy is clear on the important role car clubs can play to reduce the need for private car ownership. This is why the Mayor recently announced that electric car clubs with a dedicated parking bay in the Congestion Charge Zone will receive a 100 percent discount on the Congestion Charge from January.” - How do they get away with this nonsense unchallenged? If he really was putting car clubs at the centre of his strategy he would, as a minimum, have exempted all car clubs from the charge and, even better, done much more to coordinate and support them.
Camden councillors were staunchly against Zipcar flex for years. In a recent consultation meeting they refused to believe that Zipcar flex reduced car ownership, in favour of believing their own uncommon sense. The govt really is run like a clown show, but perhaps we are the laughing stock.
This news outlet is becoming a secret pro-Lime tree influence operation. And fully worth my subscription too.
Worrying to hear that hiyacar are also in a slightly tricky financial situation – losing Zipcar is bad enough, but to lose both would make that even worse. They did email out to users yesterday following the zipcar news to to stress their commitment to stick around tho, so here’s hoping they might even be able to plug some of the imminent gaps from zipcar’s exit
It is the Mayor's explicit policy to reduce private car use as much as possible irrespective of the fuel used. He is simply anti-car. He dreams of a city of people walking and cycling everywhere and has no time for people who say they need a car because they are elderly or disabled or have a lot to carry. The justifications he puts forward for this Utopian vision - air quality, emissions reduction etc do not stand up to scrutiny and it is noteworthy that he and his cronies will still be able to use their cars, just not the rest of us.
As a frequent Zipcar user living in Lewisham, this news has really depressed me - Zipcar has been my go-to when popping around to visit friends and family, get to restaurants and gigs, as well as for day trips further afield. My wife and I are already talking about buying a car early next year (something we were looking to do in perhaps 2+ years). We're lucky we're fortunate this is an option - can't envision it being the case for a lot of Zipcar members!
I used it but it wasn't always as convenient as billed - I had to Uber 25 minutes to the parking bay last time for instance. It needed more density to work. And if you wanted to leave London - the reason a lot of people want a car - for a short trip, it felt very pricey
I never had this issue where I've lived (Highbury, Hackney, Clapham). There's always a Flex car parked within a 5 min walk, at worst a short bus ride away.
Nah, the reason for wanting a car is because from zone 2 inwards it is quite difficult to find good retail (supermarkets are being priced out). There are basically no malls in London apart from the two Westfields, and if you want a visit to Ikea or B&Q that is also the most viable option to drive furniture and plants home. Farmer's Market that are longer than one stall? You have to drive. TKMaxx that does not look like the set for a Mad Max sequel? You need to drive. Etc.
I am really angry at this to be honest. Living in London should not be this shit.
You are surprised that inner cities don't have big box retail?
A lack of big box retail is a common feature of pretty much any global city centre.
And having a lack of "malls" in central London was never an issue for me when living in Vauxhall / Oval. Oxford Street / Regent Street / Soho / Covent Garden met all of my shopping needs, and arguably far more pleasant than a Westfield.
My husband runs a business and used to use Zipcar a lot for that. The service became much worse during the pandemic, cars not where the were supposed to be, cars not unlocking or being out of fuel or low battery. He then had a small accident, bumping into a car pulling out of a parking space, and was told he would no longer be insurable, effectively banned indefinitely. Now he has a car and a van, not only clogging up parking, but it’s also less flexible for the business. He used to be able to book a Zipcar van for contractors to use, now he makes those trips himself, not worth the hassle or expense of getting insurance for someone for a day.
In the beginning, there was Streetcar. It was small, it was local and it had incredibly good customer service from a call centre in Wimbledon which it was a joy to deal with (not something I can say about any other I have ever dealt with). Then Zipcar bought Streetcar and standards slipped a bit. Then Avis bougt Zipcar and they slipped steadily further. Cars got messier, dirtier and sometimes smellier. In the end, I gave up and bought a car.
Zipcar provided their core service. But their wider service was terrible, and there was never much of an attractive offer for existing car owners to switch.
I used Zipcar in London (fifteen years ago) but when I came to Cork they seemed to have abandoned all pretence at customer service. I tried using it here several times and just had to give up. I'm sure the congestion charge doesn't help but they have other problems.
It’s a shame. However, it goes well in line with making everything possible to keep people cooped up in their homes. Now that’s an agenda hiding within the agenda.
The news about Zipcar is very depressing. I can't help but think if the economics of a car-club monopoly (or close to it) do not work in a city of c.10m, then something has gone badly wrong in policy making at a borough, city or national level.
I've never owned a car as Zipcar and it's predecessor Streetcar met my needs - shopping, the odd day out, the journey to the tip. More recently, it's meant that I could take my blind and mobility restricted father in law whom we now live with to (endless) appointments, visit friends and, frankly, anywhere not within a 500m radius without taxis and stress. There must be tens of thousands of people who could tell similar stories.
Despairing at this news. I don’t often use Zipcar but whenever I do there’s not really any alternative and I’m always very happy to have done so. This is going to make life much more difficult for a lot of Londoners.
This is killing me. One of the reasons I used ZipCar is because from time to time we could go for a big shopping in a decent supermarket outside the hell that is zone 2 east London, or get some plants. Basically I moved to Stepney because of the convenience and since I moved here there is one big supermarket gone, the cinema gone, now ZipCar gone, all convenience stores and really bad take aways,making the area poor and expensive. Now with ZipCar gone I have to depend on delivery for these shops and I hate it.
This news is genuinely upsetting. I don't want to own a car, I don't want to add to the congestion in this city, but I rely on using Zipcars 2-3 times a month.
Without Zipcar, it seems the only reasonable alternative is to buy a car that'll clog roads and sit unused the majority of the time. Residential parking permits are dirt cheap, anyway.
I'm sure this will lead to an uptick of people like myself buying cars. It's outrageous that TfL/Mayor of London wouldn't make an exception on the electric congestion charge for car sharing clubs.
We should be encouraging or even subsidising their existence, not pushing them out of business.
Would be fascinating to know how much Zipcar has to spend in total in parking / licensing fees to London Boroughs. It seems like it's £1000-2000 per vehicle.
Scrapping them wouldn't be enough to fully address Zipcar's unprofitability, but I am sure it would help. Seems absolutely wild to charge more than residential permits, given the social good arising from car clubs.
Since returning to London 11 years ago we decided not to buy a car but instead rely on public transport and Zip cars when we needed them. More recently my wife has started a small gardening business and books a Zip van at least once a week. This is a terrible loss for London. Our street (Vauxhall) is mostly free of cars but there’ll be another van clogging up the road in the new year. I’m sure many other small businesses will be suffering. Sad times.
“The Mayor’s Transport Strategy is clear on the important role car clubs can play to reduce the need for private car ownership. This is why the Mayor recently announced that electric car clubs with a dedicated parking bay in the Congestion Charge Zone will receive a 100 percent discount on the Congestion Charge from January.” - How do they get away with this nonsense unchallenged? If he really was putting car clubs at the centre of his strategy he would, as a minimum, have exempted all car clubs from the charge and, even better, done much more to coordinate and support them.
Camden councillors were staunchly against Zipcar flex for years. In a recent consultation meeting they refused to believe that Zipcar flex reduced car ownership, in favour of believing their own uncommon sense. The govt really is run like a clown show, but perhaps we are the laughing stock.
This news outlet is becoming a secret pro-Lime tree influence operation. And fully worth my subscription too.
Worrying to hear that hiyacar are also in a slightly tricky financial situation – losing Zipcar is bad enough, but to lose both would make that even worse. They did email out to users yesterday following the zipcar news to to stress their commitment to stick around tho, so here’s hoping they might even be able to plug some of the imminent gaps from zipcar’s exit
It is the Mayor's explicit policy to reduce private car use as much as possible irrespective of the fuel used. He is simply anti-car. He dreams of a city of people walking and cycling everywhere and has no time for people who say they need a car because they are elderly or disabled or have a lot to carry. The justifications he puts forward for this Utopian vision - air quality, emissions reduction etc do not stand up to scrutiny and it is noteworthy that he and his cronies will still be able to use their cars, just not the rest of us.
Utter nonsense from a clueless fool
Stop making up scenarios in your head and hurting your own feelings Jonathan.
You and Michael are both idiots if you don't see the truth staring you in the face.
As a frequent Zipcar user living in Lewisham, this news has really depressed me - Zipcar has been my go-to when popping around to visit friends and family, get to restaurants and gigs, as well as for day trips further afield. My wife and I are already talking about buying a car early next year (something we were looking to do in perhaps 2+ years). We're lucky we're fortunate this is an option - can't envision it being the case for a lot of Zipcar members!
I used it but it wasn't always as convenient as billed - I had to Uber 25 minutes to the parking bay last time for instance. It needed more density to work. And if you wanted to leave London - the reason a lot of people want a car - for a short trip, it felt very pricey
I never had this issue where I've lived (Highbury, Hackney, Clapham). There's always a Flex car parked within a 5 min walk, at worst a short bus ride away.
Nah, the reason for wanting a car is because from zone 2 inwards it is quite difficult to find good retail (supermarkets are being priced out). There are basically no malls in London apart from the two Westfields, and if you want a visit to Ikea or B&Q that is also the most viable option to drive furniture and plants home. Farmer's Market that are longer than one stall? You have to drive. TKMaxx that does not look like the set for a Mad Max sequel? You need to drive. Etc.
I am really angry at this to be honest. Living in London should not be this shit.
You are surprised that inner cities don't have big box retail?
A lack of big box retail is a common feature of pretty much any global city centre.
And having a lack of "malls" in central London was never an issue for me when living in Vauxhall / Oval. Oxford Street / Regent Street / Soho / Covent Garden met all of my shopping needs, and arguably far more pleasant than a Westfield.
My husband runs a business and used to use Zipcar a lot for that. The service became much worse during the pandemic, cars not where the were supposed to be, cars not unlocking or being out of fuel or low battery. He then had a small accident, bumping into a car pulling out of a parking space, and was told he would no longer be insurable, effectively banned indefinitely. Now he has a car and a van, not only clogging up parking, but it’s also less flexible for the business. He used to be able to book a Zipcar van for contractors to use, now he makes those trips himself, not worth the hassle or expense of getting insurance for someone for a day.
In the beginning, there was Streetcar. It was small, it was local and it had incredibly good customer service from a call centre in Wimbledon which it was a joy to deal with (not something I can say about any other I have ever dealt with). Then Zipcar bought Streetcar and standards slipped a bit. Then Avis bougt Zipcar and they slipped steadily further. Cars got messier, dirtier and sometimes smellier. In the end, I gave up and bought a car.
Zipcar provided their core service. But their wider service was terrible, and there was never much of an attractive offer for existing car owners to switch.
I used Zipcar in London (fifteen years ago) but when I came to Cork they seemed to have abandoned all pretence at customer service. I tried using it here several times and just had to give up. I'm sure the congestion charge doesn't help but they have other problems.
It’s a shame. However, it goes well in line with making everything possible to keep people cooped up in their homes. Now that’s an agenda hiding within the agenda.