Q-Park: Car Sharing Is Growing in Cities but Where Do They Park?

Car sharing has grown sharply in popularity in our major cities over the past few years allowing users who live in urban areas to have flexible transport in a sustainable way without incurring the cost of car ownership.

However, it does bring its challenges for the operator. With the Government confirming a ban on the sale of new Petrol and Diesel vehicles from 2030 in addition to the introduction of Low Emission Zones in City Centres, it is of paramount importance to Car Sharing businesses that they find an even greener way to operate. Furthermore, local Councils are improving the liveability of our cities including reducing the amount of on-street parking available to increase the use of street space for café culture and green regeneration, this coupled with the need to find a more secure environment to store vehicles represents a unique set of growing challenges that Car Sharing operators need to meet.

Understanding this challenge, Q-Park created a sustainable urban mobility plan which helps solve the challenge. Q-Park have over 70 locations in the UK and Ireland all located in key city centre locations. Today, Q-Park have extensive experience of working with Car Sharing businesses to set up collection points within newly created Mobility Hubs and are at the forefront of the European Parking industry in this field. The objective is to develop parking facilities into vital instruments to help realise urban accessibility, sustainability and liveability. In addition to car parking and shared mobility schemes, Q-Park also provide access for last mile delivery solutions, electric vehicle charging and retail space all within their safe and secure facilities.

The advantage of operating from a Q-Park Mobility Hub for Car Sharing businesses is not only the convenience of being located within the heart of our cities but also the eco-system of services. Car Sharing businesses have access to the other tenants services, such as fleet rapid charging hubs that allow them to get their vehicles back on the road quicker. Access into the Mobility Hubs for tenants is facilitated by using Q-Park’s innovative state of the art PaSS (Parking as a Smart Service) system which includes Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) System. This system provides a seamless access without the need of physical cards or parking tickets.

Q-Park have worked with many different Car Sharing businesses, both large and small, across Europe who now operate from their mobility hubs. In the UK and Ireland, Q-Park work with Enterprise Car Club, Virtuo, Easirent and UFO Drive.

Sustainable Urban Mobility is at the heart of the Q-Park business and is possible to replicate in every city in the UK where they operate. The Mobility Hub allows Car Sharing businesses to solve an operational problem regarding where to park their vehicles securely. The ability to access charging infrastructure has allowed them to electrify their fleet which supports the government regulations created to cut pollution in city centres.

To find out more about Q-Park’s Sustainable Mobility Hubs click here.

About Q-Park

Q-Park is notable for its quality approach and has a portfolio comprising over 3,300 parking facilities with more than 640,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Ireland and Denmark.