Streetcar vehicles were parked in a dense network of dedicated spaces primarily in London, but also across a total of 10 UK cities including Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford, Guildford, Maidstone and Southampton.

Durham University friends Brett Akker and Andrew Valentine founded Streetcar in April 2004[3] after seeing its commercial success in Europe and North America.

They started with 8 cars in locations near Clapham Junction station, and much of the growth since inception has occurred organically through word-of-mouth recommendations.

[8] Streetcar had over 1,200 locations across 10 UK cities including; London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton, Southampton, Guildford, and Maidstone.

[12] Streetcars were booked online or by phone, and could be collected and returned at any time using the member's personal smart card and PIN.

Usage charges were based on the length of time the client kept the car, and mileage during the rental (the first 20 miles per calendar day were free); currently[when?]

For car bookings over 72 hours the cost of fuel was included (up to a fair use limit of 500 miles per week, excluding peak weekends; this did not apply in July and August).