- Carsharing can be thought of as organized short-term
car rental.
- Members of a carsharing organization access the
vehicles from shared-use lots (e.g., transit station, neighborhoods,
and employment centers).
- Fees typically cover maintenance, insurance, registration,
fueling, and time use.
- Urban carsharing with linkages to transit is the
predominant shared-use vehicle model. However, several new models
are being tested (e.g., employer-based carsharing, such as CarLink;
resorts; gated communities; etc.).
- Existing carsharing organizations typically
provide a choice of vehicle type, rate, and convenience suited to
participant needs.
Key Results
Carsharing efforts have proven viable where:
- Population is dense (i.e., urban);
- Alternative modes of transportation are easily
accessible (e.g., people who commute to work by transit or carpool
but need vehicles for errands and weekend travel);
- Disincentives to driving are prevalent, such as
parking costs and congestion;
- Service attributes are offered (e.g., preferred
parking at transit stations) that favor the substitution of a shared-use
vehicle for trips that otherwise might have been driven alone;
- Vehicles can be easily accessed by different user
groups in mixed land-use areas; and
- Environmental consciousness is high.
Key results include:
- More careful consideration of the necessity of
car trips, duration and distance of travel, and modal alternatives
and as a result decreased auto use and ownership.
- Cost savings to individuals and employers;
- Energy and emissions savings;
- Increased transit ridership; and
- Decreased parking demand.
Where is it implemented?
- While carsharing has been implemented in Europe
since the 1940s on a small scale (i.e., 10 to 20 cars), more widespread
and successful efforts began in Europe (particularly Switzerland
and Germany) in the mid-1980s.
- Approximately 200 carsharing organizations are
active in 450 cities throughout Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the
Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, and Italy.
- Mobility
Carsharing Switzerland, the largest carsharing organization,
has over 1,200 cars and operates in over 800 locations in 300 communities,
with over 27,000 members. It is run by one enterprise as a public-private
partnership (e.g., with linkages to Swiss Rail) and serves as a
model for carsharing potential throughout Europe.
- Since the mid-1990s interest in carsharing has
grown in North America (San
Francisco, Portland,
Seattle,
Vancouver,
Toronto).
At present, there are ten carsharing organizations in North America
(operating without smart technologies). Five are run as for-profit
businesses, and the rest are run as nonprofit cooperatives. Five
of the ten are located in Canada. Another two are planned on the
West Coast, and a third should launch in Chicago in 2000 (known
as ShareCarGo).
- In 1999, two "smart" carsharing demonstration programs
were deployed in California: 1) CarLink (the CarLink study results
can be found by linking to reports listed below), and 2) Intellishare
(a UC Riverside and Honda effort).
- There are several carsharing demonstration programs
in Asia, particularly in Japan and Singapore, and there is a growing
interest in Australia and Latin America, although no projects currently
exist.
Links
European car sharing
http://www.carsharing.org/
World carshare consortium
http://www.ecoplan.org/carshare/cs_index.htm
National station car association
http://www.stationcarinfo.com/
San Francisco car sharing
http://www.citycarshare.org/
Flexcar
http://www.flexcar.com/
Cooperative auto network- Vancouver
http://www.cooperativeauto.net/
Autoshare - Toronto
http://www.cooperativeauto.net/
Car sharing library
http://www.carsharing.net/library/
Author: Susan Shaheen
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