Cityhop is
New Zealand's
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...
first
carsharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
service operating in both
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
. It was founded by former Auckland City councillor
Victoria Carter
Victoria Mary Carter is a former New Zealand politician. She is now a professional company director and businesswoman.
Early life
Carter, born in England, came to New Zealand with her mother, journalist Valerie Davies. Her stepfather was jou ...
with
JUCY, a rental car and campervan company. In 2018, Cityhop has 80 vehicles and more than 3000 active drivers. It was bought by
Toyota New Zealand
Toyota New Zealand Limited is the importer and distributor of new Toyota and Lexus vehicles to New Zealand. It also imports used vehicles from Japan and refurbishes them at its former assembly plant in Thames.
Until 1998 it also assembled a va ...
in November 2018 and had about 6,000 members and 120 vehicles in 2019. As of 2020 Cityhop now has over 150 cars and vans across Auckland and Wellington with over 10,000 members.
Cityhop was launched in Auckland in August 2007 by Prime Minister
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
and began with three cars in
Auckland Council
Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...
carparks. This was followed by three cars in Wellington in late 2008. Expansion to
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
and
Queenstown is planned.
Cityhop follows traditional
carsharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
principles with car bookings done online or over the phone, keyless car entry by
keycard
A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card. The card typically, but not always, has identical dimensions to that of a credit card or American and EU driver's license. The card stores a physical or digital ...
, and dedicated carshare parking spaces for each vehicle. Users pay an annual fee and cars are available by an hourly rate which includes petrol, insurance, maintenance, and cleaning. Most vehicles are late model hatchbacks or sedans and each car is located in an onstreet carpark or offstreet carpark in a highly populated part of the CBD or city fringe. Cityhop has partnered with
Z Energy
Z Energy is a New Zealand fuel distributor with branded service stations. It comprises some of the former assets of Shell New Zealand and Chevron New Zealand. Shell left the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its ope ...
to provide carshare carparks on service station forecourts.
Kicking the Car Habit
Z Energy.
See also
*Alternatives to the automobile
Established alternatives to car use include cycling, walking, kick scooters, rollerblading, skateboarding, twikes and (electric or internal combustion) motorcycles. Other alternatives are public transport vehicles (buses, guided buses, trolle ...
*Carsharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
References
External links
Cityhop Website
{{Vehicle rental brands
Carsharing
Companies based in Auckland
Transport in Auckland
Transport in Wellington