New hire car service sought as firm slashes service over anti-social behaviour in Limerick

COUNCIL has launched a search for a company to deliver a new car rental scheme for the city and its environs.

The successful firm will be expected to provide up to 40 new vehicles, at least 10% of which must be electric.

The move comes after GoCar reduced the number of vehicles it had stationed in Limerick, citing a rise in anti-social behaviour.

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A car club is a service that provides access to vehicles on a pay-as-you-go basis, offering an alternative to owning a car.

Instead of owning a vehicle, members of a car club can rent a car or van for a short period, paying only for the time and distance they actually use it

At this month’s metropolitan council meeting, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan was told local authority bosses had put out a call for companies to register their interest in providing cars for short-term rental across the city.

This is being done through what is known as a tender, which will give any firm a chance to outline the costs, and timelines around providing any service.

Council has stressed that it expects the development of a new car club scheme to come at “no financial cost” to the authority.

“The scheme must be able to be deployed and operate effectively with minimum Council input and without the need for any capital or operational funding by Limerick City and County Council. The availability of on street parking in conjunction with parking in locations such as Colbert Station will give the tenderer a good platform to establish and build upon,” the document goes onto add.

The aim of a car club scheme is to bring about a cut in car journeys and the use of car parking spaces.

As things stand, there are only eight car club vehicles in the city at the moment, the council has stated in its tender.

It wants to see large employment areas on the periphery of the city - for example the National Technology Park at Plassey and Raheen Industrial Estate - served.

Council would expect any provider would be able to integrate with other car club schemes operating in Limerick - suggesting a single fee would cover multiple clubs.

There will also be a stipulation that the car club provider would remove cars parked illegally within 120 minutes during working hours, and eight hours when offices close.

GoCar did not return a request for comment.