By guest blogger, Mike Just.
Honda Civic Hybrid Member of the City Car Club Fleet in Edinburgh
Moving from Ottawa to Edinburgh this past September meant it was time to bid a sad, albeit temporary, farwell to Vrtucar. As previously blogged at Green Living Ottawa, living without a car suited our lifestyle quite nicely. Thankfully, the UK is supported by a wonderful car sharing program: City Car Club. Once I was able to secure a bank account (for direct debit payments), we were ready to cruise the streets of Edinburgh. Having a Canadian driver’s license was not an impediment either as I simply had to send in a photocopy of my passport and driver’s license.
Like VrtuCar, City Car Club has online access to reserve their vehicles and there are at least half a dozen cars within walking distance from our flat. Cars are equiped with card readers and a small onboard computer, and our first (and only trip so far) went very smoothly. And while we’re based in Edinburgh, our membership allows us to make use of vehicles anywhere in the UK.
Lest you think car sharing is only about more effective use of these hunks of metal, programs like City Car Club also try to select environmental vehicles such as Honda’s Hybrid (which seem to help some Londoners avoid congestion fees). And for North Americans such as myself that are waiting till they’re accustomed to the left side of the road before re-introducing manual transmission, the hybrids come with automatic transmission.
