Streetcar Launches One Way Trips

The UK’s largest pay-as-you-go car club is to become the first to offer one way trips.

Streetcar is responding to members’ demands to drop off their hire car at a different location from where they picked it up¹.

As Brett Akker, Streetcar co-founder explains: “The phenomenal success of our pay- as- you- go service means that more and more people want to use our cars for a wider variety of trips². Some of these, such as driving to the airport or moving house are one-way. We’ve had a great response to the new service in trials and it’s now available across the network, from today.”

The new one-way service is simple to use. Streetcar’s members simply book a one-way trip online or over the phone, pick up their car or van from its dedicated parking bay and drive it to their destination, from where it will be retrieved by the company and returned to its resident location. There is no limit on the length of trip and the service is available daily from 7am until 10pm.

Edward Rosa, who regularly travels to Heathrow Airport said: “Instead of paying £60 for my taxi and having to worry whether it will pick me up on time, I can just book a Streetcar, have the flexibility of driving myself to the airport and then just drop it off for less than £50.”

Laura Thomson, who used the service, at the trial stage, to move house, said: “It’s an absolutely brilliant service. We moved out of London and didn’t want to have to return the car after we’d unpacked all our belongings. We parked it right outside our new home, and had nothing more to worry about. It was a much cheaper and more convenient alternative to a traditional hire car. ”

The new one-way service also offers greater flexibility if plans change and it’s no longer convenient for members to drop the car back.

William Butler, who became the first person to take advantage of the new service, said: “I love the flexibility – I can use the car and then leave it at my destination if my plans change and I decide to stay over. I don’t clock up hours overnight and it feels just like owning my own car.”

It can also mean no more wasted working hours sitting in waiting for deliveries. Members can now do it themselves using a Streetvan close to IKEA or Homebase and dropping the vehicle back at their house once they’ve unloaded their sofa or patio furniture.

For David Boden, it has already proved the ideal and convenient option for transporting a large purchase: “I have very recently bought a bathroom suite, and used Streetcar to take the goods home with me there and then. It was great to avoid a frustrating delivery delay, as well as the inconvenience of a vague delivery slot.”

“The opportunities really are numerous and no doubt more will spring up as word continues to spread about the service,” said Brett.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

1. To cover the cost of ensuring all the companies’ 1,000 vehicles are where they should be to meet customer demand, there is a pick-up fee of £24.50 on one-way trips. Hire charges start at £3.95 per hour, with the first 30 miles of petrol free. Additional details can be found at www.streetcar.co.uk or www.streetvan.co.uk

1. Streetcar has seen a 50% increase in membership year on year for the first quarter of 2009, highlighting people’s desire to switch out of car ownership into Streetcar. Latest industry research also shows that for every Streetcar launched, 16 privately-owned cars are sold. This compares to just 8 a year ago. Combined with those who defer purchase of a car and join a car club instead, this figure rises to 26 cars taken off the road for every Streetcar added.

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