On Wednesday night last, December 11, 2013 at approximately 2:30am, an attempted break in on a GoCar on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay occurred. Due to the advanced mobilising system in all GoCars, the unsuccessful break in led to frustration amongst the thieves who then set the car on fire.
This is an unfortunate and expensive blow to the already successful and popular city car scheme which was launched in August of this year and is supported by Dublin City Council. GoCar is a members only car sharing service that allows you rent cars and vans by the hour. GoCars are located at convenient locations around Dublin, so you go online to book your nearest GoCar, turn up at the GoBase at the time of your booking and you then have access to a vehicle.
GoCar has seen huge growth since its on street launch in August 2013 and have opened over a dozen new bases since, including partnering with Irish Rail at their stations. Over 1,000 trips are taken every month at present and they have seen month on month growth in trips of 20%.
Colm Brady, Managing Director of GoCar MD said; “This random act of violence is a blow to GoCar and the people who carried out this attack should be ashamed of themselves. It is also an insult to the people of Dublin.
“Thankfully our vehicles are equipped with an advanced mobilising system which meant the thieves attempting the steal the GoCar had no chance. In their frustration, the thugs obviously resorted to violence and set fire to the vehicle. The car is now completely written off and it has cost GoCar over €10,000. That is a bitter pill for any company to swallow.
“We never had any reservations about placing our cars on the streets of Dublin. The successful Dublin Bikes scheme illustrated this clearly. The vast majority of people are honourable and law abiding citizens who respect the scheme. Our streets are safe and well policed, however this isolated incident is really disappointing. We have invested hundreds of thousands of euro to date and while we have 100% faith in the long term viability of the scheme, it was disappointing to have a car destroyed.”
Gardaí have told GoCar that they are studying CCTV footage in the area and the investigation is ongoing.
