The Dunedin City Council is considering introducing a small-scale fleet of hybrid and petrol vehicles in a car-sharing service to help people considering not owning a car.
Under car sharing, the public has access to vehicles to rent for personal or business use, rather than buying their own.
A report tabled for next week recommended the council explore the public interest in establishing a small-scale car-share service in the city.
While including electric vehicles in the fleet was desirable, it was determined it would be too costly to operate and would pass higher costs on to customers.
The University of Otago and Te Pukenga Otago Polytechnic saw potential to integrate a car-share service into their respective fleets and supported a car-share service available to students.
Zero Carbon Alliance members expressed continual interest in establishing a car-share service in Dunedin.
Investigation into establishing a car-share service in Dunedin was the latest step of the Shaping Dunedin Transport (SDFT) project and would inform the development of the council’s emissions reduction plan.
The service would offer both visitors and residents an additional transport option for navigating the city.
Research showed that for every car-share vehicle there was a reduction of seven to 10 private vehicles.
This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, congestion and demand for parking while improving health outcomes and enabling low-cost transport options.
The service was proposed as a way to help achieve the city’s emissions reduction targets.
Latest figures suggested that private car movements generated about half of all emissions from on-road transport.
Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch already offered similar schemes.
The report identified various potential providers for the service.
Discussions had already been had with car-share companies and apartment developers had expressed interest.
The council would receive an update once a preferred car-share provider was identified and would continue to investigate implementing the service in Dunedin.
