Sustainable Cities Initiatives: Car-sharing

One of the biggest problems to the urban quality of life in dense cities are the high numbers of cars. Car-sharing is an initiative that is a great alternative to car-ownership. This marketable scheme for urban development improves energy efficiency and air quality. The service is for shared journey's or individuals on an as-needed basis. It works by allowing people to rent a car for a specified time-frame. Generally, it is as easy as making a reservation (after signing-up), operating the car with a special key or card, and driving away.



DriveNow.com is one Car-sharing service in Germany

For the individual expenses such as repairs, insurance, maintenance are covered by the operator while parking fees and gas are included in the rental fee. The other benefits of car-sharing is that it is an incentive for people to drive less (reduced car-ownership), encourage other transit transportation and most operators use less polluting, smaller cars which has improved environmental quality and reclaimed street space.

Data collected from a life-cycle analysis for a 2003 case study in Bremen, Germany, which included environmentally friendly modes of transport and the replacement of cars, identified a reduction of CO2-emissions of about 1.900 tons per year¹. From another study, car-sharing users were found to emit around 209 kilograms less of CO2 in Switzerland². It is estimated that each car used for car-sharing can replace 4 to 10 private cars. By 2009, car-sharing users in Bremen have replaced around 1000 cars².

European examples demonstrate that car-sharing can be easily integrated into the urban environment and transport policies. Car-sharing is particularly attractive for people who prefer to drive than use transit transportation, while also helping to shift the perception of the car as a status symbol into a service. In the context of environmental and cultural changes, car-sharing is a complementary option alongside other transit transportation aimed at changing mobility behaviour.

References

¹European Commission (2003) 'Integration of Car-Sharing/MOSES project (Mobility Services for Urban Sustainability), Bremen, Germany' Case Study: http://www.managenergy.net/resources/331

² Civitas Catalist Project (2009) 'City-To-City Exchange: Car-Sharing as Innovative Service' Bremen, Germany: http://www.civitas-initiative.eu/docs/1822/090605-C2C-Car-Sharing.pdf