Chacapool is a small, informal car-sharing club operated by Chapeltown Cohousing. It runs on trust along cooperative lines – although it’s not formally constituted. Admin and car care tasks are shared between the members – six of us at present, although we’re likely to grow rapidly as the ChaCo development nears completion.
How it works
We currently have two cars. The Polo usually lives at the southern end of Woodland Grove and the Fiesta is based in Spencer Place. Modern car keys are expensive to clone, so picking up a car usually involves first collecting a key from the keeper.
Bookings (via Google Calendar) are on a loose and negotiable first-come-first-served basis: if someone needs a car for a lengthy period, at a time of likely high demand, or for a regular series of bookings, best practice is to email the group first.
Users record the time and mileometer reading in the log sheet at the beginning and end of each trip, along with any legitimate expenses (including fuel, as this is covered by the mileage charge). The data is transferred to this website’s database once a quarter, and invoices are sent out.
Charges
This is what Metacarpool has been charging its users…
There’s a £50 annual membership charge per account.
There’s an hourly charge of £1.00, capped at £15 for any 24-hour period.
Mileage charges are: 20p/mile for the Polo and the Fiesta.
It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to keep Chacapool prices this low. See the Carpool Costings gadget.
Update October 2023
At our meeting on 20/10/23 we decided:
- The £50 annual membership would be per driver
- The mileage rate would be 25p/mile for all cars.
Joining
From time to time we take on new members who meet our eligibility rules. If you’re a ChaCo member and would like to be considered for membership of Chacapool, get in touch and we’ll sound out the current members about whether we have sufficient capacity for another driver.
Eventually we hope to be able to expand Chacapool to be able to offer membership to others in the local neighbourhood – but not until we’re satisfied that it’s running smoothly and the needs of ChaCo members are being met.