The Car Lite event is being held as forecasts from the car cub industry suggest that, with sustained investment by all stakeholders, London could see up to 1 million car club members by 2020.

The event builds on the strong growth of car clubs in London in recent years, with 86% of the UK's 164,000 car club members now in London.

It follows a key recommendation to encourage further use of car clubs from the Mayor's Roads Task Force, set up in July 2012, to help provide a solution to the problem of increasing pressure on London’s roads, which will be exacerbated by a predicted 14% increase in the population.

Previous research carried out by CarPlus earlier this year showed that every car club car effectively removes around 17 privately owned cars from the streets. Car club members also tend not to commute by car or drive so much during rush hour, helping them save on average £3,000 per year. As a result, encouraging more boroughs to include Car Clubs into their transport planning can help reduce congestion and emissions.

Being held at London’s City Hall, today’s Car Lite event will see boroughs that already have successful car clubs publish new best practice guidance to help other London boroughs. The best practice guidance covers a range of ways in which boroughs can further encourage Car Club use, including:

• Using new build and refurbishments as an opportunity for installing more car club bays
• Installing more bays that are in locations that are more visible and easily accessible to residents and local businesses
• Promoting car clubs in their local boroughs in partnership with operators to enable greater take-up 

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: ‘Car clubs can help reduce congestion and carbon emissions through less private car ownership, whilst still giving people the freedom and flexibility to use a car when they need it. The success of car clubs in London has shown how these clubs can offer people more choice about how they travel.’

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson added: ‘London has one of the biggest Car Club markets in the world and the potential for further growth is huge. Our Roads Task Force is fully supportive of this forward-thinking industry, one which offers massive benefits in terms of reducing congestion, improving air quality and reducing competition in the battle for kerbside parking.

‘We know that just one car club vehicle can reduce up to 17 privately owned cars, and that car club users tend to make smarter travel choices such as cycling, walking and public transport. This is a really exciting time for the Car Clubs industry in London and I urge all London boroughs to get on board and support its development.’

For more information about Car Clubs, please visit: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/car-clubs and http://www.carliteLondon.org