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ince its launch in November 2010, the Developing Car Clubs in Scotland programme has been enabling the country to get ever closer to achieving energy efficiency and carbon reduction in transport with innovative and cost-effective car clubs. The Developing Car Clubs in Scotland (DCCS) programme was launched with funding from Transport Scotland, with the aim of providing communities across Scotland with a convenient and cost effective alternative to car ownership. Two years on from the initial launch, we would like to welcome you to this review of the DCCS programme to date. In rural and urban Scotland, the DCCS programme has welcomed community engagement and provided financial and technical assistance to facilitate the successful launch of 11 new car clubs adding 35 vehicles and 600 members to the Scottish car club network. This has helped to reduce the dependency on private car ownership and contributed to the strengthening of rural communities and a reduction of transport poverty. Whilst we are proud of this achievement, there is of course still more work to do. Over the next two years, the DCCS programme will need to continue to support the work of these new car clubs to enable them to consolidate their positions, by expanding their membership and vehicle utilisation to ensure that they remain sustainable and successful in the long-term. Car clubs can play a key role in reducing private car dependency and are part of a broad range of sustainable transport measures such as walking, cycling and public transport, which collectively offer significant benefits for the environment, individuals and society as a whole. As such, we also aim for the programme to support a small number of additional new car clubs to further expand the Scottish car club network. This review aims to highlight the achievements of the DCCS programme so far, to introduce each of the car clubs supported by the financial and technical assistance offered by the programme, and to outline how the DCCS programme can continue to support the development of car clubs across Scotland in future years.
Chas Ball
Chief Executive, Carplus 2 Developing Car Clubs in Scotland