AN ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly car rental scheme is celebrating its first anniversary in Sheffield.
WhizzGo, set up jointly with Sheffield Council, allows people to hire a car and pay by the hour, the half day, the day, or longer.
More than 200 people have signed up in the first year, which WhizzGo says will have saved them up to £3,5000 each in car insurance, tax, MOT, fuel and maintenance costs.
More than half of those who sign up go on to sell their own cars, and most end up driving 60 per cent fewer miles, so helping to cut congestion.
Jean Tinsley, aged 60, of Blake Street, Upperthorpe, uses WhizzGo cars to get to the garden centre and for general running about.
She said: "We signed up quite near the beginning when we read about it in The Star. My partner had a large Saab that I didn't fancy driving in the city centre.
"Co-incidentally, the car was written off shortly after we joined and we have never replaced it.
"Instead of spending thousands we just spend £150 for WhizzGo, which we get back if we leave the scheme. Then there is a signing on fee of £25. After that it is just £4.95 an hour.
"It is a cheap way of getting about. If I go to the garden centre and want to transport something I can't carry, I can hire the car to get me there and back for less than the price of a taxi."
There are currently seven car pick-up locations in the city centre, and the hope is that, as the scheme expands, there will be more in the suburbs too.
WhizzGo expects membership to grow by 150 per cent over the coming year.
John Bann, head of transport and highways at Sheffield Council, said: "The first year of the car club has shown it is an invaluable addition to travel options."
What do you think? Add your comment below.READ MOREMatch report and slideshowMain news indexLatest sport.Readers' LettersHolidays and TravelThe full article contains 350 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
