WhizzGo – a car when you want one
All the freedom a car can bring without actually owning one! WhizzGo Car Club offers an alternative to running your own car by providing you with the opportunity to drive new, reliable cars and only pay for the time you actually use them. This could be for as little as one hour or up to a few days.
Cars are booked through the internet or by phone, weeks ahead or as little as a minute before a vehicle is needed. Once a booking is completed, members simply walk to a car, unlock it (using a personal smart card and PIN) and drive away. Cars are located in reserved parking spaces throughout the city centre and in an expanding list of suburbs, including Chapel Allerton.
To sign up as a member you buy a smart card for a one-off payment of £25, which gives you lifetime membership. You pay a £125 refundable deposit with a credit or debit card to cover any unpaid fees or damage to a car. There are six monthly payment plans available for members, bookable through the internet at www.whizzgo.co.uk/whatitcosts/index.htm or by phone on 0870 446 6000.
Benefits
WhizzGo will appeal to city drivers who want to avoid the huge cost of buying, running and parking a car. Research by CarPlus shows that car club members can reduce their total transport costs by as much as 50%.
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.
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. In Bremen, Germany, for example, car club members’ use of public transport increased by 35%.
Leeds City
Council provides free parking bays
WhizzGo cars are available for members in specially designated bays provided by Leeds City Council at (see link to map below):
- Great George Street outside Thoresby House on the city centre loop road, opposite the Light car park entrance.
- High Court, just outside 42 The Calls hotel, on the loop road.
- Maude Street, just down from The Calls.
- Concordia Street, just after the Malmaison on the city centre loop
- Park Square North, near to the Headrow heading out of town
- University of Leeds Campus
- North Lane, Headingley
- Outside Denison Road outside Park Lane College.
- Outside the Old Police Station in Town Street, Chapel Allerton, North Leeds.
- At the Gateway by the noticeable Etap hotel
- Roundfoundry Media Centre, Water Lane behind the Cross Keys pub
- Edinburgh Avenue, Armley. Near the corner with Town St.
- Chevin Park, Menston, luxury apartments off the A65 to Bradford
Car locations are currently being reviewed so if you are interested in having a car based near to you, please let WhizzGo know by emailing info@whizzgo.co.uk or by calling Charlotte Morton on 0870 446 6000. Alternatively go to www.WhizzGo.co.uk for more information.
Leeds City Council has developed a new travel information website Leeds Travel Information which will allow travellers to find out exactly what's happening on the city's roads, car parks, railways and bus routes so they can plan ahead and avoid any trouble spots. The maps include the locations of WhizzGo parking bays.
Bonus discounts from Metro
WhizzGo members are 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 the number of miles travelled. Once members have booked a car on the internet at www.WhizzGo.co.uk or by phone on 0870 446 6000, booking information is electronically relayed to the car, which opens 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!