Have you heard of Carsharing?

What is Carsharing? It is the opportunity to rent a car 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at the last minute or even for a quarter of an hour, using a relatively standard system of subscription and rental. Reservations can be made by telephone, internet or even text message. There is no need to go to an intermediary's office, the only key required is a magnetic smart card. The car is parked in a car-park or at a location which is usually less than five minutes walk from one's home. The only drawback is having to take the car back to this same location. Self-service cars are a practical means of transport for city dwellers without a car who, for example, may need to transport some furniture or visit friends out of town.

 

Carsharing is an alternative to having one's own car and a complement to public transport and taxis, yet it remains largely unknown. Making matters worse the concept is often confused with car pooling (see our article.) Nothing seems to help, neither the idea nor the practice have entered the culture of mobility and they therefore suffer from a lack of “visibility.”

 

However there is no lack of words being used to designate this concept: Carsharing, self-service cars, car clubs, shared cars, individual public transport, pay-as-you-go cars etc.

 

Countries such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland remain at the forefront of this  field which they pioneered and still maintain a distinct lead. Many German towns have proven  carsharing services. Towns such as Bremen undertook weighty, repetitive marketing communications so that this option of transport became known amongst others.

 

The UK has taken certain measures aimed at making up for lost time in this practice. The Carplus Trust has created a national network of carsharing, integrating it with other methods of transport and making it accessible to everyone. The service is offered by 42 different operators in 37 towns with 29,000 members and 1200 vehicles. London now has at least 5 carsharing operators. The London area is now developing a co-ordinated effort, based around the specifically created organisation : “The London City-Car-Club.” This has set up a network in the capital which originated in a consortium created by seven London boroughs. The initiative has benefited from funding by “Transport for London.” Today the City-Car-Club has over 40 parking bays spread over 9 boroughs. In order to promote its service Carplus has published a letter of information , public awareness leaflets and organises an annual conference.

 

Carplus has measured the service's impact on travelling habits. According to its study every carsharing vehicle replaces 6 private cars. After joining, members reduce the miles they travel by an average of 50%. Furthermore in 2005, 45% of private vehicles which were replaced by carsharing were over 10 years old.

 

Carsharing should bring some solutions to transport problems, particularly in traffic jam asphyxiated cities. However, for the time being the main problem continues to be a lack of public awareness.