Ghent organization Dégage! for private car sharing grew strongly

Dégage!, a Ghent-based non-profit organization that offers private car sharing throughout Flanders, grew solidly last year, with 900 new users and nearly 150 additional shared cars.

Through Dégage!, owners can lend their private cars to people in their neighborhood. Part of the costs are then reimbursed to the owner. Within Dégage, 543 cars are shared, and there are 7,201 borrowers.

Ghent and East Flanders above

The center of gravity of the car-sharing system is in Ghent, where Dégage! also saw the light of day 26 years ago. In the meantime, the non-profit organization is also active in 42 cities and municipalities in all Flemish provinces and Brussels.

East Flanders is in the lead with 5,933 users and 425 cars. This is followed by Antwerp, West Flanders, Flemish Brabant, and Brussels, each with several hundred users and several dozen cars. Limburg lags with one shared car and a dozen users.

More than 50 EVs

Dégage! is now the third largest car sharer in Flanders, after Cambio and Poppy. Yet there is a difference with those commercial players, says John Wante, chairman of the board of directors. “Dégage! is social, cooperative, and impact-driven.” For example, the organization encourages the purchase of EVs with advances, provided they are shared within the organization. One-tenth of the fleet, or 56 cars, is electric. In the future, Dégage! wants to increase that share substantially.

Last year, the organization won the Ghent Climate Prize. Dégage! is run by a hundred volunteers and four permanent employees. Members at Dégage!, the name comes from “De Gedeelde Autovloot GEnt (The Shared Car Fleet Ghent)” but literally means ‘out of the way’ – have access to all available shared cars at the same rates – fixed mileage rates with no hourly charges.

One Dégage car eliminates an average of 11 other cars.