You’ll soon be able enjoy hassle-free access to cars in parts of the city, as the launch of a car club will help reduce the need to own a vehicle in Portsmouth.

We’re aiming to launch a new car club scheme with cars available to rent in Central Southsea, Eastney and Craneswater, St Jude and St Thomas from the summer. There will also be two car club cars available at Lakeside in the north of the city.

If you join the car club, you’ll be able to unlock cars via an app on your phone and rent them by the hour or day. If you don’t have a smartphone, a helpful customer services team will be on hand to ensure you can still enjoy the many benefits of a car club.

Car clubs provide an affordable option for people who need to drive somewhere, but don’t need to own their own vehicles. You can join the car club for a small annual subscription fee, then only pay for a vehicle when you need it. All vehicles come with an MOT, insurance, breakdown cover, and are regularly cleaned.

The plans to introduce a car club were discussed at a Traffic and Transportation meeting in March 2023. To make it a success, the proposed locations were chosen where the highest number of people said they were likely to join the club if it was offered near them in a 2021 survey.

People are currently able to have their say on the exact bay locations as part of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). If any objections are received, results from this formal consultation will be discussed and locations will be finalised at a decision meeting in June 2023.

We expect that at least two cars will be available in each area when the scheme launches. If it proves successful, the number of cars available and areas of the city could be part of an expansion in coming years.

More details will be available soon.