Since yesterday, residents of the Indischestraat in Haarlem-Noord can use two electric shared cars for next to nothing. They owe this to their neighbor Hessel Kruisman. When he read about the ‘auto van Straat’ initiative of the province of Noord-Holland and Natuur en Milieu, he also decided to enthuse his neighbors about sustainable partial transport.
Street gets cheap shared car from the province: “I put my car up for sale” – NH News
The affordable hourly rate of 2.50 euros for the residents of the Indischestraat applies for nine months. After that, they will pay the regular rate. Also the inhabitants van de Boterbloem in Purmerend and that of De Klipper in De Rijp pay that rate for the first nine months for the two electric shared cars parked in their street.
Where De Klipper and De Boterbloem have been benefiting from cheap and sustainable partial transport for some time now, residents of the Indischestraat in Haarlem have been able to do the same since yesterday. And there, too, the cars receive a warm welcome, as appears when provincial deputy Jeroen Olthof (mobility and accessibility) drives the first car into the street.
“If you drive this, you have nothing to be ashamed of”
“We do this to encourage the use of shared cars,” explains Olthof. The province hopes to encourage residents to leave their own car behind and to opt for the electric shared car. “Because different travel behavior is necessary to keep North Holland accessible and liveable,” the province said on its website.
A resident of the street sees himself using the shared car. “When you drive this, you have nothing to be ashamed of.” Initiator Kruisman also sees – of course – the advantages: “We have been without a car before, you then become more creative in thinking about how you transport yourself. Now that the shared cars are in the street, this will become easier,” says Kruisman, who owns his own car. has already been put up for sale.
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Alderman Robbert Berkhout (sustainability, economy and mobility) says he is pleased that local residents have taken the initiative themselves to get the cars into their streets. Although the difference between the reduced rate and the real rate is still being coughed up by the province, Berkhout does not rule out the possibility that the municipality of Haarlem will also encourage partial transport in this way.
Parking problems
“We just have to see how we can coordinate that with the policy. But I think this is a good alternative for the second car, for example, and that will also help with the parking problems,” said the alderman.
Kruisman acknowledges that there are parking problems. “Sometimes cars are parked on the corner near the sidewalk, which makes it difficult for disabled people to pass,” he says. He is therefore a strong supporter of the municipality’s plan to introduce paid parking in his neighbourhood.
Why not free?
But if the government wants to stimulate sustainable transport, why don’t they make the use of the shared cars in this initiative free of charge? “We ask for a small fee for use so that people continue to consciously deal with car use,” said deputy Olthof.
The owner of the cars – a commercial market party – will decide in nine months whether it is profitable to leave the cars on the street. “I have confidence in that, I think there will be many more shared cars in North Holland in the future,” says Olthof.