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Thursday
15 July 2004
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WhizzGo car club launches in Leeds A NEW service in Leeds is offering drivers all the benefits of having a new car without the expense and hassle of owning one, and will cut their transport costs by up to 50%. Drivers who join WhizzGo, the Leeds city car club launching this month, will be able to drive a brand new car, available on the doorstep, for less than £4 an hour, including petrol, mileage, road tax, insurance, servicing, breakdown, recovery, maintenance and cleaning. And independent research shows that car club members can cut their total transport bills by half. WhizzGo members will also get big discounts on public transport in Leeds and West Yorkshire and contribute to easing congestion and pollution. WhizzGo is the first commercial car club in the UK to be fully integrated into a city-wide transport network. The company has been awarded a ten-year contract by Leeds City Council to run the city car club in a unique partnership with the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Metro) and CarPlus, the government-funded transport agency. WhizzGo Leeds marketing manager, Ilan Sherman, says: “This is an integrated approach which will be a model for all of the UK’s major cities to free up their roads, and Leeds is leading the way.” Experience in the United States and continental Europe suggests that for every driver who joins an organisation like WhizzGo up to 10 cars are taken off congested roads, and club members complement their car usage with increased use of public transport. John Henkel, Metro’s Director of Passenger Services, says: “Car clubs can increase public transport use by putting the cost of car journeys on an equal footing with bus and train journeys. In Bremen, in Germany, for example, car club members’ use of public transport increased by 35%.” WhizzGo will appeal to city drivers who want to avoid the huge cost of buying and running a car. Recent RAC research shows that motorists have only a vague idea of the real costs involved. The motoring organisation says that owning your own car costs on average £438 a month, including buying it, the reduction in its value over time, insurance, fuel, servicing, Vat and breakdown cover. Research by CarPlus shows that car club members can reduce their total transport costs by as much as 50%. WhizzGo members will find membership useful for a variety of purposes: Ø Businesspeople can travel to work in the city by public transport and use WhizzGo cars to meet clients. Ø Families can avoid buying a second car to transport the kids and shopping (a cab costs twice as much). Ø Occasional car users can avoid the costs of buying and running a vehicle. Ø People living in the city centre, who have many of their amenities on hand and easy access to public transport, can save on the price of a parking space (currently adding up to £15,000 to the price of an apartment in Leeds). Ø Cyclists and people using public transport can use WhizzGo for a lifestyle on the clean side of green. The more that members use a WhizzGo car the cheaper it becomes. WhizzGo is offering six different monthly usage plans, detailed at the end of this release. WhizzGo vehicles are never more than five minutes’ walk from a member’s home or workplace and are available at a few minute’s notice for periods of as little as half an hour. Charlotte Morton, 37, founder and managing director of WhizzGo, says: “This is a fantastically convenient service. The car is right on your doorstep. We take away all the hassle of owning a car. We deal with the maintenance, servicing, breakdowns, cleaning, insurance, road licence, MOT – all that is included in the price of less than £4 an hour.” WhizzGo already has 15 members in Leeds before its launch. One of them, Leeds architect Jonathan Lindh, 45, from Chapel Allerton, who has used car clubs before, said: “Being a car club member, first of all, saves you money; I keep running the cost through my mind thinking whether or not I should buy another car and I reckon I save a couple of grand a year in a car club. You also tend to see transport in a more complete way. There are a number of different ways to get places: by public transport, by car, by bicycle or walking. You plan more and fit the transport to the journey. You need a certain amount of commitment to change your habits and an integrated public transport system to make it work well. For me, it is important to do what I can as an individual to reduce my impact on the environment.” Leeds City Council provides free parking bays The first WhizzGo cars will be available for members in specially designated bays provided by Leeds City Council at: Ø Great George Street outside Thoresby House on the city centre loop road, opposite the Light car park entrance. Ø Just outside 42 The Calls hotel, by the postbox on the loop road for High Court. Ø In Denison Road outside Park Lane College. Ø Outside the old police Station in Town Street, Chapel Allerton, North Leeds. WhizzGo plans to place more cars continuously all over the city in the next 18 months and has a target of almost 100 cars available for 2,500 members by 2006. Bonus discounts from Metro WhizzGo members will be eligible for a 15% reduction on the cost of an annual Metrocard, courtesy of Metro, and the first 50 members new to a Leeds car club will be given free one-month Metrocards, worth up to £77. MetroCards are the great value-for-money range of travelcards which give virtually unlimited travel on buses or trains & buses in West Yorkshire. Technology supplied by INVERS GmbH, of Siegen, twin city of Leeds WhizzGo is using innovative technology supplied by INVERS GmbH, based in Siegen, Germany, the twin city of Leeds. The INVERS GmbH equipment installed in each WhizzGo car includes an on-board computer, which restricts entry to members who have booked the car and records the time they spend in a car and how many miles they travel. Once members have booked a car on the internet at www.WhizzGo.co.uk or by phone on 0870 446 6000, booking information will be electronically relayed to the car, which will open automatically to the member who has booked it at the wave of the member’s smart card. Members can talk directly to the WhizzGo team using the car’s on-board computer, which also has a port to connect an MP3 music player. Potential car thieves should not bother trying to steal a WhizzGo car because they will not be able to drive away without a smart card and correct pin number. New Citroën cars on your doorstep WhizzGo cars, supplied by Reg Vardy Citroën Leeds, are Citroën C3 Desire 1.4 litre models, with power steering and air conditioning as standard, finished in distinctive arctic silver with the discreet red, amber and green WhizzGo logo. Hertz hire discounts WhizzGo members can enjoy the following discount rates from Hertz car rental: Ø 10% off the best available non-prepaid rates in the UK Ø 5% off the best available prepaid rates in the UK Ø 10% off member benefit non-prepaid rates worldwide outside the UK Champagne launch reception in Leeds The Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Brenda Lancaster, will be guest of honour at a champagne reception hosted by the directors of WhizzGo to celebrate its launch in Leeds at the Banquet Hall, Civic Hall, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 1UR, on Tuesday 27 July, from 12 to 2pm. Entry by invitation only. WhizzGo cars will also be on display in an exhibition on the day at Millennium Square in Leeds city centre. How to WhizzGo for less than £4 an hour To sign up you buy a smart card for £25, a one-off payment, which gives you lifetime membership. You pay a £125 refundable deposit with a credit or debit card to cover any unpaid fees and damage to car. There are six monthly plans available for members, bookable on the internet at www.WhizzGo.co.uk or by phone on 0870 446 6000:
Additional miles are charged at 20p and additional hours at the equivalent hourly rate. Contacts Charlotte Morton, Managing Director, WhizzGo, 0777 5900 259, charlotte.morton@WhizzGo.co.uk Ilan Sherman, Leeds Marketing Manager, WhizzGo 0795 823 9092, ilan.sherman@WhizzGo.co.uk Leeds City Council: Ray Hill, Travelwise Officer, 0113 247 6334, ray.hill@leeds.gov.uk Metro: Martin Driver, 0113 251 7214, 07818 041463, martin.driver@wypte.gov.uk Citroën: Phil Reed, 020 8 668 4048, LeadingPR@aol.com. Citroën Public Affairs, 0870 606 9000 INVERS GmbH: Kai Rosenthal, 0049 271 489 7224, k.rosenthal@invers.com 15 July 2004
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