A trial is being launched in the Highlands to create special parking spaces for people who sign-up to join local car sharing clubs.
The bays will be located on streets and in car parks, and motorists will be hit with fines if they use them while not being registered in the scheme.
It is expected to begin later this month and aims to reduce the number of vehicles driving in towns and cities.
Successful schemes have shown that for every one car club vehicle, eight others are removed from the roads.
Initially 12 car club bays have been installed in Inverness, and more are planned for Fort William, Wick and Thurso.
Councillor Allan Henderson, chairman of the council’s community services committee, said: “Highland Council is committed to creating sustainable transport in the region and car clubs are a good way of reducing vehicle numbers on our roads and therefore emissions.
“We will watch with interest the uptake of this trial scheme once it is up and running.”
Neil MacRae, manager at regional transport partnership Hitrans, said: “Hitrans welcome the work that Highland Council is doing to help support car clubs become established in Inverness, with hopefully other towns to follow.
“In other cities they have been shown to reduce car use and provide people who don’t want to buy a car with a sustainable alternative.”