REAR VIEW:As anyone who has been on the streets of Dublin recently will know, the city has taken to the Dublin bikes scheme with great gusto. Boasting well over 25,000 subscribers, it has been an unequivocal success.
It’s a great source of pride that they haven’t all ended up in the Liffey as I feared they might. Who can forget the unfortunate fate that befell some of the Cow Parade figurines in Dublin a few years back? These bovine statues were displayed, unmolested, throughout the globe, only to end up decapitated on the streets of Ireland. For shame.
Perhaps this is a sign we are growing up as a society. Now that we’ve proved we can be trusted with bikes, why not do the same thing with cars?
There’s a new Irish company called GoCar trying to do just that. Modelled on similar projects that have been running in Europe for 20 years, it’s a car sharing club offering short-term rentals to members.
For a once-off registration fee, you can book the nearest available vehicle online or by phone. Just turn up, swipe your membership card and hop in. You then drive around at your leisure at a cost of under a fiver an hour before dropping it back to a designated spot for the next punter.
Brilliant, eh? All the advantages of a car without the hassle. No fuel, tax, insurance or servicing costs, no depreciation and no parking stress. And you never have to wash it yourself. Not only that, but less car ownership will result in less traffic and fewer emissions which will benefit everyone except the taxman.
Unfortunately, GoCar is only operating in Cork for now. I reckon schemes like it should be in every town and city in the land. So, how about it, Green ministers? Any chance of giving these eco-heroes a few spare parking spots in Dublin to get started?