COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

MOTION NO. 1

MOTION: Councillor B. Bonner

"This committee commends the operation of the Go Car scheme and requests that the scheme would be expanded in the Clondalkin area.  It also requests that consideration could be given to adapting the scheme so that cars could be left at different locations rather than being dropped back to the point where the car was collected as is required at the moment." 

REPORT:

The Council will request GoCar to carry out a feasibility study on possible expansion of GoCar in Clondalkin. Residents can visit GoCar.ie/Locations to request a GoCar near a certain street or area.

There are a number of reasons why GoCar currently operate on a return-to-base model, rather than one-way or free floating.  A one-way service does not allow forward-planning - if a member wants to book a car for 6pm, they need to know the car will be there and available. For example, you cannot reserve a Dublin Bike; if you’re left without a bike, there are usually other options available for that journey, whereas being left without a car is much more difficult. The security of knowing a car will be available when needed is what gives people the confidence to rely on GoCar rather than owning a car. What many transportation policy-makers are beginning to realise is that you would never go from one location to another in your own car and never return to it, so one-way services are often not replacing private cars, but instead replacing taxis, or more often, public transport. GoCar is currently reviewing the possibility of a mixed fleet, where the majority of vehicles are returned to base offering peace-of-mind, but there are some cars which are free-floating, allowing drivers to access a first-mile or last-mile solution to connect existing public transport networks.

There are also a limited number of Public Parking spaces available and it may not be feasible for the car to be left back at different locations rather than being dropped back to the point where the car was collected.