Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of
car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often private individuals themselves, and the carsharing facilitator is generally distinct from the car owner. Carsharing is part of a larger trend of
shared mobility.
Carsharing enables an occasional use of a vehicle or access to different brands of vehicles. The renting organization may be a commercial business. Users can also organize as a
company, public agency,
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
, or ''ad hoc'' grouping. The network of cars on the network becomes available to the users through a variety of means, ranging from the simplicity of using an app to unlock the car in real time, to meeting the owner of the car in order to exchange keys. As of January 2020 the world's top city for car sharing is
Moscow with more than 30,000 vehicles (though in Moscow almost all carsharing cars are owned by large facilitators).
History
Early days
The first reference to carsharing in print identifies the ''Selbstfahrergenossenschaft'' carshare program in a
housing cooperative that got underway in
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Z ...
in 1948, but there was no known formal development of the concept in the next few years. By the 1960s, as innovators, industrialists, cities, and public authorities studied the possibility of high-technology transportation – mainly computer-based small vehicle systems (almost all of them on separate guideways) – it was possible to spot some early precursors to present-day service ideas and control technologies.
The early 1970s saw the first whole-system carshare projects. The ProcoTip system in France lasted only about two years. A much more ambitious project called the
Witkar was launched in Amsterdam by the founders of the 1965
white bicycles project. A sophisticated project based on small electric vehicles, electronic controls for reservations and return, and plans for a large number of stations covering the entire city, the project endured into the mid-1980s before finally being abandoned.
In July 1977, the first official British experiment in carsharing started in Suffolk. An office in Ipswich provided a ''Share-a-Car'' service for "putting motorists who are interested in sharing car journeys in touch with each other." In 1978, the
Agricultural Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture.
History
The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...
granted the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
£16,577 "for an investigation and simulation of carsharing". The scheme was not intended for different drivers of a single car but for a driver offering seats in his car.
The 1980s and first half of the 1990s was a "
coming of age" period for carsharing, with continued slow growth, mainly of smaller non-profit systems, many in Switzerland and Germany but also on a smaller scale in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.
Carsharing in North America was founded in Quebec City in 1994 by Benoît Robert, with a company called Communauto that is still a leader in carsharing globally. Cycling advocate and environmentalist Claire Morissette (1950–2007) played a major role in its evolution starting in 1995, when Communauto established itself in Montreal as a private company. The company goal is to provide a convenient and economical alternative to owning a car.
In 2005, a novel form of car sharing service, the "Libre Service Integral", later known as Free Floating, has been introduce by VULOG and tested from 2007 in Antibes CiteVU mobility service, on the French riviera. An electric car paid by minute, when and how long I need, where I want and where I go". This service was added to Communauto in 2012.
Boom in the United States
The first car-sharing company in the U.S. was CarSharing Portland, founded by Dave Brook in March by 1998 after a visit from Conrad Wagner of Mobility Switzerland. Conrad and Dave would also help establish
Flexcar
Flexcar is a vehicle subscription company based in Boston, MA. They offer weekly subscriptions to a variety of cars with touchless pickup from locations in Boston, Nashville, and Atlanta. Flexcars include maintenance and insurance and customers ca ...
in Seattle, which launched in 2000, the same year as competitor Zipcar on the east coast. In April 2001 Carsharing Portland, then with 25 vehicles, merged with Flexcar, as its first expansion city.
Zipcar, (merged with Zipcar in 2007), and
City Car Club
Enterprise Car Club (formerly City Car Club) is a British car club operator. Established as CityCarClub in 2000, it was acquired by the American company Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 2015, and renamed Enterprise Car Club in 2016. It now has 1,400 ...
were all started in 2000.
City CarShare was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001, as a non-profit. Several
car rental companies launched their own carsharing services beginning in 2008, including Avis on Location by
Avis,
Hertz on Demand (formerly known as
Connect by Hertz), operating in the U.S. and Europe;
Uhaul Car Share
UhaulCarShare (formerly "UCarShare") was a for-profit carsharing service offered by U-Haul in nearly 40 cities in the United States until the program was shut down in February 2020 just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with a UhaulCarShar ...
owned by
U-Haul, and
WeCar by
Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
[ By 2010, when various ]peer-to-peer carsharing
Peer-to-peer carsharing (also known as person-to-person carsharing and peer-to-peer car rental) is the process whereby existing car owners make their vehicles available for others to rent for short periods of time.
The concept
Peer-to-peer carsha ...
systems were introduced. Zipcar accounted for 80% of the U.S carsharing market and half of all car-sharers worldwide with 730,000 members sharing 11,000 vehicles.
In 2008, City CarShare introduced the first wheelchair carrying car share vehicle, the ''Access Mobile'', specifically designed as a fleet vehicle shared with non-wheelchair users.
Carsharing is noted as a tool for achieving vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the California Transport Plan (CTP) 2040 to reduce congestion and pollution.
Development and growth
Carsharing has also spread to other global markets with dense urban populations (such as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and Turkey) given that population density is often a critical determinant of success for carsharing. Successful carsharing development has tended to be associated mainly with densely populated areas, such as city centers and more recently university and other campuses. There are some programs (mostly in Europe) for providing services in lower density and rural areas. Low-density areas are considered more difficult to serve with carsharing because of the lack of alternative modes of transportation and the potentially larger distance that users must travel to reach the cars.
Many building developers are now incorporating share-cars into their developments as an added value to tenants, and municipal government bodies around the world are starting to stipulate the implementation of a carsharing service in new buildings, as a sustainability initiative. These trends have created a demand for a new model of carsharing – residential, private-access share-cars that are typically underwritten by the Homeowner association. In Germany a pilot project has been started by the semiconductor manufacturer Infineon to replace regular pool vehicles with a corporate carsharing system. Replacing private automobiles with shared ones directly reduces demand for parking spaces. The fact that only a certain number of cars can be in use at any one time may reduce traffic congestion at peak times. Even more important for congestion, the strong metering of costs provides a cost incentive to drive less. With owned automobiles many expenses are sunk costs and thus independent of how much the car is driven (such as original purchase, insurance, registration, and some maintenance).
According to Navigant Consulting
Navigant Consulting, Inc. was an American management consultancy firm. It had offices in Asia, Europe and North America; the head office was in Chicago, Illinois. The stock was a component of the S&P 600 index. Navigant was acquired by Guidehous ...
, global carsharing services revenue is expected to grow to billion by 2020, with over 12 million members worldwide. The main factors driving the growth of carsharing are the rising levels of congestion faced by city dwellers; shifting generational mindsets about car ownership; the increasing costs of personal vehicle ownership; and a convergence of business models. Carsharing operators increasingly opt to brand parts of their fleets with third-party advertising in order to increase revenue and improve competitiveness (Transit media Transit media is a form of out-of-home advertising that displays advertisements in or on the outside of vehicles, such as on the side of or above the seats of a bus or tram.
Advertising medium
Transit media used to consist of paper or paint, but ...
).
For future applications, many carsharing companies invest in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engi ...
) to reduce petroleum consumption. One idea is to calculate and compensate all emissions on behalf of your drivers according to the Kyoto protocol, e.g. via reforestation schemes. The world's first certified carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...
carsharing service is Respiro carsharing in Madrid and is also done by Australian p2p car sharing platform Car Next Door
Uber Carshare is an Australian company that facilitates peer-to-peer car rental, a system by which individuals may rent privately owned vehicles on an hourly or daily basis to other registered users of the service. It currently operates in loc ...
.
The most important technological innovation to affect the carsharing market is self-driving cars. It is expected that most self-driving vehicles won't be owned by individuals, but will rather be shared. Some companies, like Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
, have also started to use blockchain technology to record ownership, usage of shared vehicles and insurance information.
In July 2018, Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
announced its intention to launch an all-electric car-sharing service by 2019. In August 2018, the carsharing startup Getaround
Getaround is an online car sharing or peer-to-peer carsharing service that connects drivers who need to reserve cars with car owners who share their cars in exchange for payment.
As of 2019, the company was reported to have five million users and ...
rose $300 million from Softbank. According to Moscow's authority, the number of carsharing journeys in the city averaged 30,000 a day between January and September 2018.
Global development and comparison in urban regions
Car-sharing is growing in urban regions as more people around the world adopt it. The world's top cities for car-sharing in 2018 were
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
(Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
) with 19.8K vehicles, Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
) with 16.5K vehicles, Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
(China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
) with 15.4K vehicles, Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
(China) with 13.9K vehicles, Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
(China) with 4.2K vehicles.
Types of carsharing
Generally, carsharing programs fall into one of four sharing models: round-trip, one-way, peer-to-peer, or fractional.
Round-trip carsharing
Members begin and end their trip at the same location, often paying by the hour, mile, or both.
One-way/free-floating carsharing
One-way carsharing enables users to begin and end their trip at different locations through free floating zones or station-based models with designated parking locations. As of 2017, free-floating carsharing is available in 55 cities and 20 countries worldwide, with 40,000 vehicles and serving 5.6 million users, with Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
representing the majority of the market. In Europe, free floating services took up more than 65 percent in carsharing membership.
The service is expected to reach 14.3 million users with more than 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2022.
By conventional companies
In corporate car sharing, the company shares the vehicles and allows multiple employees (rather than just one) to make use of a company car, at times when they actually need it. The vehicles are made available from a corporate car sharing pool, and shared for a fixed or flexible period of time. One shared car could replace up to 8 non-shared cars. However, car-sharing does involves an additional processing and associated costs. Still, it reduces fleet-related costs over the long term and allow employees to save not only on costs but also on time.
Peer-to-peer carsharing
Peer-to-peer carsharing, sometimes referred to as P2P or Personal Vehicle Sharing, operates similarly to round-trip carsharing in trip and payment type. However, the vehicles themselves are typically privately owned or leased with the sharing system operated by a third-party.
Fractional ownership
Fractional ownership allows users to co-own a vehicle and share its costs and use.
Neighborhood fractional ownership carsharing is often promoted as an alternative to owning a car where public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
, walking, and cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...
can be used most of the time and a car is only necessary for out-of-town trips, moving large items, or special occasions. It can also be an alternative to owning multiple cars for households with more than one driver.
Difference from traditional car rentals
Carsharing differs from traditional car rentals in the following ways:
* Carsharing is not limited by office hours
* Reservation, pickup, and return is all self-service
* Vehicles can be rented by the minute, by the hour, as well as by the day
* Users are members and have been pre-approved to drive (background driving checks have been performed and a payment mechanism has been established).
* Vehicle locations are distributed throughout the service area, and often located for access by public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
.
* Insurance: (this section is US specific) state minimum liability insurance (only $5000 in some states), comprehensive and collision insurance. They do not provide uninsured, under-insured or personal injury protection insurance.
* Fuel costs are included in the rates.
* Vehicles are not serviced (cleaning, fueling) after each use, although certain programs (such as Car2Go
Share Now GmbH is a German carsharing company, formed from the merger of Car2Go and DriveNow. Since 2022, it is a subsidiary of the Free2Move division of multinational automaker Stellantis providing carsharing services in urban areas in Europe, ...
or GoGet
GoGet CarShare is a car sharing service operating in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The service was the first of its kind in Australia. GoGet was launched as Newtown CarShare on 6 June 2003 with three vehicles and twelve founding members. Fo ...
) continuously clean and fuel their fleet.
With carsharing, individuals have access to private cars without having costs and responsibilities associated with car ownership (except for fractional ownerships). Some carshare operations (CSOs) cooperate with local car rental firms, in particular in situations wherein classic rental may be the cheaper option.
The insurance policies on carsharing greatly varies among companies, but all carsharing firms provide insurance that at least meets the legal minimum requirements for the given region of operation. Rob Lieber of ''The New York Times'' has criticized carsharing firms such as Zipcar for the paltry coverage afforded carsharing drivers.
Technology
The technology of CSOs varies enormously, from simple manual systems using key boxes and log books to increasingly complex computer-based systems (e.g. partially automated and fully automated systems) with supporting software packages that handle a growing array of back office functions. The simplest CSOs have only one or two pick-up points, but more advanced systems allow cars to be picked up and dropped off at any available public parking space within a designated operating area.
Once the reservations are completed and confirmed, the car will then be delivered at the time and place scheduled. There will be a small card reader mounted on the windshield. Once the customer places their membership card on the reader, it will use what is called blink technology
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
to activate the time and unlock the car. The reader will not work until it is time for that specific reservation. The keys can then be found somewhere inside the car such as the glove compartment. Depending on the company, the customer may be provided with a key to a lock box that contains the ignition key itself. In some cases the car can be unlocked using a mobile phone and the car can even be started using the phone as well.
Many car sharing networks price their services as a small start up fee and then a mileage fee for the distance driven in the car. Usually the app will include insurance, gas cards, and upkeep to their fleet of cars at no additional charge to the customer.
International terminology
* : "car clubs". In the UK, "car sharing" refers to what is called " carpooling" or " ride sharing" in the US, namely the shared use of a car for a specific journey, in particular for commuting to work, often by people who each have a car but travel together to save costs.
* : " lift scheme".
* : "self-drive."
See also
* Sharing economy
* Alternatives to car use
Established alternatives to car use include cycling, walking, kick scooters, rollerblading, skateboarding, twikes and (electric or internal combustion) motorcycles. Other alternatives are public transport vehicles ( buses, guided buses, tro ...
* Car rental
* Carpool
* Ecoleasing
Ecoleasing is a system in which goods (mainly from the technical cycle, i.e. appliances, ...) are rented to a client for a certain period of time after which he returns the goods so the company that made it can recycle the materials.
Terminology ...
* Fleet vehicle
* List of carsharing organizations
* Ridesharing company
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Car Sharing
Sustainable transport