TSRC

From: A Short History of Carsharing in the 90's. Journal of World Transport Policy & Practice 5 (3), 18 - 40 The vast majority of automobile trips in U.S. metropolitan regions are drive-alone car trips. In 1990, approximately 90 percent of work trips and 58 percent of nonwork trips in the United States were made by vehicles with only one occupant (United States Department of Transportation, 1995). Vehicles are unused an average of 23 hours per day. This form of transportation is expensive and consumes large amounts of land. Private vehicles are attractive. Their universal appeal is...

Most cars carry one person and are used for less than one hour per day. A more economically rational approach would be to use vehicles more intensively. Carsharing, in which people pay a subscription plus a per-use fee, is one means of doing so. Carsharing may be organized through affinity groups, large employers, transit operators, neighborhood groups, or large carsharing businesses. While carsharing does not offer convenient access to vehicles, it does provide users with a large range of vehicles, fewer ownership responsibilities, and less cost (if vehicles are not used intensively)....

The automobile accounts for more than 95 percent of all person miles traveled in the United States, whereas transit accounts for less than 3 percent of all trips. Between the private automobile and traditional transit, niche markets exist for other transportation services, such as airport and transit feeder shuttles and carsharing. Commuter-based carsharing, by which individuals share a fleet of vehicles linked to transit, could potentially fill and expand one such niche; complement existing services, mainly transit and feeder shuttles; and develop into a viable transportation alternative...

To reduce transportation emissions and energy consumption, policymakers typically employ one of two approaches—changing technology or changing behavior. These strategies include demand management tools, such as ridesharing and vehicle control technologies—cleaner fuels and fueleconomy. Despite the benefits of a combined policy approach, these strategies are normally employed separately. Nevertheless, they have been linked occasionally, for instance in the electric station car programs of the 1990s. Station cars are vehicles used by transit riders at the start or end of a trip. In 1990, the...