Auckland gets on-street carshare to reduce congestion

New Zealand’s only car share company Cityhop launches four new car parks in central Auckland this week.

Cityhop cars will now be available for members at four new on-street locations at the top of College Hill in St Marys Bay; at the top of Williamson Avenue in Ponsonby; on the corner of Hobson Street and Victoria Street West and at the street levelentrance of the Cross Street car park behind Karangahape Road.

The four additional car parks will increase the number of Cityhop locations to over 20.

Auckland Transport has shown their support for Cityhop by allocating three on-street parking spaces in key Auckland locations with a view to increase to number of on-street car parks to ten over the coming months. The car parks will be signposted specifically for Cityhop cars in a move to encourage the public to use the car share system and reduce the number of cars on the road.

“Car sharing is a legitimate part of the transport mix, encouraging greater public transport use and reduced car ownership,” says Auckland Transport Parking and Enforcement Manager Eunan Cleary.

“Cities managing congestion recognise that buses, trains, ferries, cycling, walking and carshares are all part of the solution,” says Cityhop CEO Victoria Carter.

Cityhop offers cars by the hour to members at multiple locations across Auckland and Wellington via swipe card technology and gives individuals and businesses access to modern eco-friendly cars at their convenience.

Cityhop currently has over 450 members, 10,000 drivers and over 70 corporate clients including government departments, private businesses and universities.

“Owning a car encourages you to drive. Cityhop offers an affordable solution for people to use a car when they need one, without the high cost of car maintenance,”says Cityhop CEO Victoria Carter. “Every day Auckland cars release 820 tonnes of carbon dioxide, car sharing not only reduces emissions it also results in fewer cars on the road and less traffic, as well as cleaner air and waterways.”

Cityhop won the Design and Innovation award at the sustainable business network convention on November 8 2011.