Car rental reality a more sustainable alternative to car ownership
British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association
ABOUT THE BVRLA Established in 1967, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is the trade body for companies engaged in the rental and leasing of cars and commercial vehicles. Through its 500+ member companies and their customers, the BVRLA represents the interests of more than two million people who drive at work, as well as the millions of people who use a rental vehicle each year. The association regulates its members through a series of quality assurance inspections and a mandatory code of conduct. If you see the BVRLA logo displayed in a car rental branch or on a leaflet or website, it is your guarantee that you will receive the highest levels of service. The association also runs a free conciliation service that can help settle any dispute that may arise between member companies and their customers. For more details, go to www.bvrla.co.uk ABOUT TRL TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, is an internationally recognised centre of excellence providing world-class research, consultancy, testing and certification for all aspects of transport. This summary report is based on the responses of 3,700 people living in the UK about 3,947 car rentals in the UK between September and December 2012, none of which were booked through a corporate account. Vehicle occupancy data based on a subsample of 441 rentals. Seven major UK car rental companies were involved in the survey. Full details of the research are given in: Cairns, S and Harmer, C, Rental Customer Survey 2012 (2013). TRL report PPR660, ISBN 978-1-908855-31-2. www.trl.co.uk COPYRIGHT: BVRLA, June 2013 COVER PHOTO: ANDRESR / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM INCLUDES IMAGES © ANDRESR, A-R-T, DENIS CRISTO, DMITRY MORGAN, KURHAN, NEALE COUSLAND, NORTHALLERTONMAN, PISAPHOTOGRAPHY, TUPUNGATO, WAVEBREAKMEDIA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM AND ALSO COURTESY OF EUROPCAR
Car rental reality
a more sustainable alternative to car ownership In 2011, TRL published a report commissioned by the BVRLA* which established that car rental can support a more sustainable transport system by providing affordable access to safer and more fuel-efficient vehicles. In 2012, the BVRLA followed this up by commissioning TRL to conduct one of the UK’s biggest-ever surveys of personal car rental customers. As well as establishing how, why and where car rental is used, the results demonstrate that it can help people own fewer cars and adopt more sustainable travel habits. You can download the full report from www.trl.co.uk, but this is a summary of some of the key findings. * Vehicle Rental: environmental and sustainability implications (TRL, 2011)
Car rental has wide appeal
Young or old, for business or leisure, because of convenience, flexibility or time constraints, car rental is used by a wide variety of people, for a huge range of journeys and a myriad of reasons.
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Car rental enables a large number of drivers to avoid owning a car or own fewer cars
More than a third of renters said their household doesn’t have a car, compared to a national average of only 9% for GB households with a full car-licence holder. A further 31% of renters said their household owned one car. 26% of renters said the availability of car rental made them less likely to buy a household car in the next few years. In addition, 15-24% of renters explicitly said that the opportunity to rent had meant that they had bought a vehicle later or owned fewer vehicles than they otherwise would have done.
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On average, rental customers have more sustainable travel habits
On average, rental customers walk and cycle more often and make more frequent use of public transport than the average driving licence holder in Great Britain.
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On average, rental cars are used more efficiently than private cars
68% of rentals were reported to involve two or more people travelling in the car, with nearly a quarter involving three or more. On average, this suggests considerably higher occupancy rates than for private cars.
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On average, using a rental car instead of a privately owned vehicle is a safer, more sustainable option
The average rental car is less than one year old, is checked before every rental and produces fewer emissions than the average privately owned vehicle per mile driven.*
* As established in Vehicle Rental: environmental and sustainability implications, S Cairns (TRL, 2011), Ref: PPR583, ISBN: 978-1-84608-988-6
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Car rental links with other forms of transport
For 67% of car rentals, customers arrived to collect their cars via train, plane, boat, bus, cycle or on foot. Linking with another form of travel was given as one of the main reasons for not using a household vehicle for 25% of rental trips.
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London car rental and car club customers have similar travel habits
When compared to the general public, London rental customers and London car club customers have similar travel patterns, in terms of how often they use public transport, cycling or walking.
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Rental has important economic and social impacts
Although this survey only focused on those renting in a personal capacity, business travel still featured as a common purpose for renting (with 26% listing it as a main reason for their rental trip, and 18% reporting that it was their only reason). People also mentioned a variety of social benefits from being able to rent – such as being able to include elderly relatives in a day out, to attend hospital appointments, or to attend family events such as weddings or funerals. 19
British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association Ltd River Lodge, Badminton Court, Amersham, Buckinghamshire HP7 0DD Tel 01494 434747 Fax 01494 434499 Email info@bvrla.co.uk Web www.bvrla.co.uk COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 924401