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The impact of different car-sharing varieties and links to mobility behaviour

The impact of different car-sharing varieties and links to mobility behaviour

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On January 24th, the Horizon 2020 project STARS hosted a car-sharing expert seminar in Bremen, Germany. The seminar focussed on the results of research about the impact of different car-sharing varieties on users and their mobility behaviour.

At the STARS car-sharing expert seminar, Gunnar Nehrke, Director of the German Carsharing Association (Bundesverband CarSharing e. V.) presented the results of a study recently carried out by the organisation on the different impacts of car-sharing varieties on car-ownership and use in cities. The study was carried out in the German cities of Cologne, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main, all of which feature station-based, free-floating, combined (station-based + free-floating) and peer-to-peer car-sharing. The study delivered interesting results on the varying user behaviour depending on the type of car-sharing they use, for example:

  • The portion of car-free households is much higher among users of station-based and combined car-sharing varieties than compared to users of free-floating car-sharing alone.
  • The reduction rate of privately owned-cars is much lower among users of free-floating car-sharing users than of other varieties: 95% of free-floating car-sharing users still owned a car after joining a car-sharing scheme, whereas only 34% of station-based users still owned a car.
  • The users of peer-to-peer car-sharing tend to use the vehicles as a replacement for the classic car rental rather than for daily use

    • If you are interested in learning more about theses results of this study as well as the classification and impacts of car-sharing varieties, the SHARE-North project will be teaming up with the STARS project to hold a webinar on March 15th, 2019 at 12:30 (CET). Participation in the webinar on “The Impact Of Different Car-Sharing Variations on Urban Mobility” is free and you can register here.

    The German version and summary of the study can also be found here: https://carsharing.de/carsharing-varianten-entlasten-staedte-unterschiedlich. The English version will be available for download soon.

    At the seminar, the topic of barriers for car-sharing use was also an issue. According to the experience of the German Carsharing Federation, the main reasons that non-car-sharing users give for not trying the service (although, in principle, they think it is a good idea) is because they think that it is “not convenient” and that “vehicles will not be available when they want them”. In her presentation on “Underlying factors of the behaviour change toward sharing mobility”, Cecilia Bergstad, researching psychologist from the University of Gothenburg, addressed how to deal with this issue by defining some recommendations for car-sharing providers and municipalities seeking to support car-sharing:

  • Providers should highlight the benefits of car-sharing use including addressing the “perceived usefulness”
  • Clever marketing strategies should be applied to lower the threshold to try car-sharing, for instance, with demonstrations and car-sharing mentoring schemes the demonstrate the reliability and ease of use of car-sharing services.

    • Because behaviour, especially mobility habits are difficult to change, Cecilia Bergstad’s recommendations for municipal governments also included that cities should make it more difficult to develop a car-use habit and to promote active travel modes by making them easier to access individual cars.

    SHARE-North partners Autodelen.net and the City of Bremen are project partners in the STARS project, which ensures a close exchange between the two projects. The seminar was also attended by SHARE-North partners from Lund University (Sweden).

    31 Jan 2019