Emily Kerr - ShareOurCars

Tea with the Changemakers

This week on the podcast we’re talking to Emily Kerr, Oxford City Councillor and car sharing advocate. Like so many people during 2021’s Covid-enforced lockdown, Emily had some unexpected time on her hands, and whilst gazing out of her window at home one day, she noted the congestion on the road outside – not any slow-moving traffic though, this congestion was parked cars, not going anywhere at all! Did you know that most cars in the UK are unused 96.5% of the time, according to the RAC?
The sight of all these cars got Emily got thinking - was there anything she could do to reduce the number of cars on the street? After all, owning a car costs £300-400 per month on average including depreciation. Emily identified the fact that most cars in her street were stationary most of the time, and that when the vast majority did get used, they were far from paying for themselves. So, why not share cars amongst your neighbours or nearby streets?
With the help of Hiyacar, a car sharing network, Emily set up a closed loop that encapsulated 6 streets in her local area; when people needed the use of a car, all they had to do logon and borrow one!
Emily has now been free of the burdens of car ownership for over 6 months, reducing her family's carbon footprint whilst increasing the amount of cash in her bank account!
If you’re ready to forget about car ownership and want to setup your own closed sharing loop, or you’re just intrigued by this whole car sharing concept, then visit Emily’s website ShareOurCars, or follow @shareourcars on Twitter.

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