Want to share your car, maybe not with the wider world, but with your local community? Have a group of similarly sustainably-minded friends that want to share access to their cars? Maybe you’ve noticed a few too many cars on the roads recently, that are gathering dust and fancy getting them back on the road again, by putting forward the idea of car sharing on your street?
Hiyacar has the solution. Easy, efficient (and even enjoyable!) closed loop car sharing, via our easy-to-use app-based platform! Getting your closed loop set up is quick and easy, and all parties are covered by our bespoke car sharing insurance, meaning that whether you’re sharing your car, or driving someone else's, that everyone is covered!
Help your local community travel more sustainably. Get idle cars in your area in use - help lessen the amount of privately owned vehicles by showing your local community that it is possible (and great fun) to share vehicles amongst yourselves and that for some users it may be more financially viable to sell their vehicle and rely on sharing entirely!
Car sharing helps reduce overall car usage and single-use car ownership. In turn, this helps reduce congestion, frees up parking spaces (as those with two cars may realise they can sell one and share the other, or those that only need occasional car access may even be enticed to sell theirs) and helps improve air quality!
How does closed loop car sharing work?
Members of a local community, interest group or just family and friends sign up individually to hiyacar to get verified, and register their interest in creating a closed car sharing loop amongst themselves.
This loop means that only those that are added to the group will be able to see which cars are available and to book them - the cars won’t be publicly visible on the hiyacar site.
Those sharing their cars within the loop can opt to install our QuickStart technology, meaning they won’t need to be around for in-person handovers, great for if they have a busy schedule. Of course, there’s the option for in-person key handovers, which a number of those in closed loops find useful and enjoyable, as they get to know their neighbours better!
Those hiring cars within the loop, book them through the hiyacar app for any duration between 1 hour and 10 days, and get where they need to go, in a car that’s just down the road.
How do I set up a closed loop?
Whether you want to share between a small group of friends and family, or you’re thinking a little bigger and want to help your wider community travel a little more sustainably, closed loop car sharing is simple:
Get your group together - check our Member Criteria to see who is eligible to become a verified driver or owner on hiyacar. Don’t worry about having to get a large group together, as there’s currently no minimum number of members in the group required! You can also add more people after it’s creation.
Sign up to hiyacar and get verified (it’ll only take a matter of minutes - you’ll need your driver’s licence for this), the other drivers or owners who are wanting to join your closed loop will also need to become verified on hiyacar too.
Register your interest - the details we’ll need from you are:
The name of your closed loop
How many people will be joining in the initial stages
The name of the closed loop’s creator and if they’re a car owner or car renter
Where your loop will be and which streets you’d like it extending to
If you’re interested in the idea and think it’d be great for your local community, then get the word out there! Whether you have a group chat, email chain, Facebook group or in-person meetings with your neighbours, friends, interest group or whoever you’re thinking of setting a loop up with, make sure to spread the word. Especially important to share are how it works and the benefits of it (you can find those below!).
You’ll need to figure out amongst your group, who will be sharing their cars and who is wanting access to a car that doesn’t already - whether they currently rely on public transport but need occasional access to a car or are thinking of selling your car - there’ll need to be a mixture or car renters and car owners in the group.
A great resource to share, as well as this page, is our interview with the loop leader of a successful small-scale closed loop car sharing trial in Oxford.
What are the benefits of closed loop car sharing?
Closed loop car sharing is a simple, easy and stress-free way to car share with friends and family - no having to work out insurance or logistics amongst yourselves, as we provide the bespoke car sharing insurance to cover all parties, and the app-based booking platform that will show you when and where the cars are available from.
Have fun and meet your neighbours, borrowing cars to get you where you need to go, and then swapping stories about the adventures you went on! Who knows, neighbours you’ve not yet met may be interested in the idea and you might make new local friends!
Help facilitate change in your local community - perhaps a few neighbours will realise they can sell their car and rely on those within the loop! A successful closed loop could make local people realise that car sharing, rather than single-use private car ownership, is the way forward to get less cars on the roads in the local area.
You’ll have access to cars on your doorstep… and like the last point, you may no longer need yours! You may find that in relying on shared cars, you’ll realise all the short journeys that can be done without a car.
Other closed loop members have found that they spend a lot less on the occasional access to shared vehicles, than they do on their own private car ownership and its associated costs.
Bring your community together through an exciting yet efficient activity, allowing those without access to their own vehicle, affordable and convenient access to a number of them, right on their doorstep.
With it being a closed loop, you’ll likely know all the people accessing your cars or sharing their cars, so if you have any doubts or worries, you’ll be able to pop across the road or round the corner to talk to them about it.