A pay-as-you-go car ownership scheme is being examined in a move to ease traffic congestion in Belfast.
Travelwise NI, which is part of the North's Roads Service, has invited Carplus, a national charity which promotes responsible car use, to look into the feasibility of developing a car club in the city.
Car clubs provide cars to members when and where desired without the commitment of owning a car. Members have access to locally-based vehicles without the associated costs of car ownership.
Introduced in Switzerland in 1987, they operate across Europe and in 27 cities in the UK, including London, Edinburgh and Liverpool.
Congestion problems could increase by as much at 25 per cent throughout the North by 2015 unless action is taken to tackle the problem, especially in Belfast
The introduction of road toll charges is also being considered as part of plans to spend £400 million to clear the province's worst bottlenecks.
Philip Igoe, Carplus co-director, said: "Car clubs are a proven way of addressing some of the more difficult problems, such as cost, pollution and congestion, associated with car use."
The survey, being conducted in three areas of Belfast, is due to be published next month.
Lisa Fagan, policy officer with Friends of the Earth, welcomed the announcement.
However she said the British government was spending millions on infrastructure which flew in the face of a policy on sustainable development.
"Car clubs are very good and something we support, but the Department of Rural Development is speaking with a forked tongue on the question of sustainable patterns of transport.
"There is no point in talking about car clubs when they invest £665 million in roads and not in public transport."
- (PA)