Schaerbeek rents municipal cars to locals at weekend

Schaerbeek town hall has begun an experiment to hire out some of its municipal cars to residents at the weekend.

The Brussels municipality wants its fleet of taxpayer-funded vehicles to be put to maximum use outside of ordinary weekday working hours.

A car will be made available to hire through the CarAmigo sharing platform and if the experiment is successful, other vehicles of varying sizes will also be rented out to locals.

"We want the commune's vehicles to be used to their fullest," said Schaerbeek councillor Vincent Vanhalewyn. "During the weekend, when the town hall is closed, rather than leaving the cars in the garage, we'd rather they were put to good use. It's an extra source of revenue, too."

According to Schaerbeek mayor Bernard Clerfayt, it is the first time that a municipality has made its own vehicles available to the public.