Newcastle has an interesting development which Edinburgh is well placed to deliver with. Go Northeast like all Go Ahead companies has a KeyCard which carries stored value and gives massive discounts on cash fares when used on their buses. The key card holders have an option of free membership of Scratchbikes, and Commonwheels (the car sharing club) if they want to register for either, and pay for the use they make of these schemes.
If you have a car to get rid of then giving it to Go Northeast will see them crediting the Key Card with a cash value equal to twice the sum they get for the old car - in most cases at least a year's worth of bus travel.
Edinburgh is well placed to deliver something similar with Lothian Buses established RidaCard, which could offer free membership of the City Car Club and an Edinburgh bike scheme, and a car scrappage deal. This concept has been operating with the Belgian bus & tram operator TEC since 2009 where scrapping your car with them gained you up to 3 years free bus travel, a car club membership and hire of a folding bike for €13/month (a subsidised rate), with the bikes in bus company branding (so the bus drivers smile and wave at cyclists on TEC bikes).
SWTrains is looking to combine their Brompton Dock scheme into a smartcard/season ticket added value offer, and Surrey CC is a big advocate of car clubs. Could this year see a gelling of the schemes into Total Travel deals?
posts
