GoCar, a commercial car sharing company, intends to set up an operation in Castlebar  later this  month.

It will have three locations in the town, with cars at the Castle Street and Market Square car parks and a shared van at the Mall.

GoCar is expanding nationally and it arrival to the county town was welcomed by Castlebar councillors, at a recent Castlebar Municipal District meeting. They were given details of the development by GoCar representative, Rob Kearns.

GoCar operate over 800 vehicles at more than 600 sites across the country and up to now have largely been concentrated in Dublin and the east of the country.

The three sites in Castlebar will be coming on stream in the next few weeks.

With GoCar, multiple people can use the same vehicle. When signed up, you can look online for use of a vehicle from as little as an hour, up to seven days.

The vehicle opens via an app, and fuel and insurance are covered in the price paid.

Shared vans, Mr. Kearns explained, are a flexible option for SMEs and also local residents, for example when purchasing white goods or moving house.

Final logistics are being worked out and when in place, the company will officially launch the expansion into Castlebar

Castlebar Cathaoirleach Blackie Gavin, said the service has worked well in other parts of the country and elected councillors supported the company’s plans.