Car sharing programs were pioneered in Switzerland and Germany in the 1980’s as a means of reducing vehicle ownership. In 1998, they spread to the United States and have grown exponentially according to Innovative Mobility. As of July 2003, there were 13 operational car sharing organizations in the United States and another 9 programs in the planning stages. Collectively, the US programs have over 25,000 members sharing more than 700 vehicles. Switzerland, with its widespread car sharing program, supports over 53,700 members with 1,720 cars in 400 communities.

Car sharing is a cost-effective alternative to vehicle ownership for individuals who do not need a car every day and/or who could drive less that 6,000 miles a year, or up to 10,000 miles a year in areas where the price of gas and other operating costs like parking and toll charges are higher than average, like the San Francisco Bay Area.

(View the whole report from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in the Dig a Little Deeper section of this report, or see City CarShare’s site for information about the Bay Area). Thus, car sharing programs have the potential to allow people who drive infrequently, as well as households that already own one car but occasionally need a second, to either sell a car or avoid buying a second one, thereby saving several thousands of dollars per year while maintaining the mobility and convenience of a personal vehicle.
 

Car sharing programs can reduce the hassles associated with vehicle ownership, including finding and paying for parking. (Source: California Center for Innovative Transportation)

Why use it? The potential benefits of car sharing programs include reduction of car ownership and reduction in total vehicle miles traveled. The associated benefits of reduced car use include reduced air and noise pollution, a decrease in traffic congestion, and less land dedicated to parking spaces and expanded roads and highways (see the online graphic animation “Get to Car Share City” to envision the benefits of car sharing). Additionally, car sharing provides a low-cost alternative for those who occasionally need a car but who cannot afford the costs of owning one full-time. This is because car sharing allows people to pay for a car only when they’re actually driving it, rather than paying for a car all the time (i.e., 24 hours a day, 365 days a year), even when its not in use.

Below is an in-depth description of some of the many potential benefits of that a car sharing program can bring to your community (this discussion adapted from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute’s study Evaluating Carsharing Benefits by Todd Litman; jump to the Toolkit Links in the ‘Dig A Little Deeper Section’ for a PDF version of this document within the Toolkit that you can read or print out).

Savings for motorists. Vehicle ownership is a major household expense for all families, but it can be an extremely heavy financial burden for moderate- and low-income households. For example, despite the fact that the average North American car is driven just 66 minutes a day the average US household spent 14.8% of its total income on vehicles and vehicle-related expenses in 1998, according to the CarSharing Network. And a 2003 report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) found that transportation costs are now taking an even bigger bite out of the family pocketbook, with more than 19% of the household budget of US families spent on transportation (second only to housing and greater than food and health care combined). The report also found that the nation’s poorest families are especially hard hit, spending more than 40% of their take home pay just to get around (an increase of 33% since 1992). The rising cost of transportation makes more difficult for lower income families to afford housing, health care, and other critical services.

Thus, even by the most conservative accounting, most households that share rather than own a car can reasonably save $500 to $1,500 per year through reduced spending for vehicle operation and maintenance expenses. Some households will save even more (for example, those that have to pay for parking at work and/or at home will save on parking costs if they shift some trips to transit, biking, and walking and use car sharing for those trips where they must drive). Car sharers may also value the convenience of avoiding vehicle maintenance and cleaning tasks as well as the security of not worrying about the possibility of facing unexpected repair bills.

Increased mobility for the disadvantaged. Car sharing provides people who cannot afford to own a private car the ability to use a vehicle occasionally. The benefits of car sharing to low-income people can be significant since their mobility is often constrained by the limitations of public transportation. For example, giving somebody who currently has no access to an automobile the ability to drive just once or twice a week is likely to serve trips that are critical for the functioning of their household (i.e. trips to the doctor and grocery store) and that are currently either delayed or taken on other modes that can extremely inconvenient for families with two working parents. For example, off peak transit service can often take too long or require too much walking, especially for parents with small children. Car sharing increases transportation equity by improving the mobility options of low-income families.

Reduced public subsidies to drivers. Motorists receive numerous hidden public subsidies that cost everybody in society regardless of whether they drive or not (for more information on these subsidies for driving and how to combat them in your community, see the Charging Market Prices for Parking, Congestion Pricing and HOT Lanes, Parking Cash Out, and Reduce/Eliminate Parking Requirements tools in this Toolkit). Car sharing can reduce these unfair subsidies and direct taxpayer’s money towards more economically productive and socially beneficial programs. Just some of the examples of the social costs that can be reduced by car sharing include the following (according to Victoria Transport Policy Institute): 
 

Better communities: transportation and land use benefits. Car-sharers tend to use car more efficiently, taking transit, walking, or bicycling when possible. By reducing vehicle travel, car sharing can help reduce congestion, the need to expand road and build parking facilities, accidents, pollution, resource consumption, and other environmental impacts caused by cars.

"Sharing" a car also means "sharing" a parking space. Car-sharers are much more likely to give up a private automobile or refrain from buying a second automobile, decreasing the amount of parking needed to serve their households or businesses. By reducing the need for excessive traffic standards and parking requirements imposed on new development, car sharing allows more flexible, infill development and helps create more compact, bikeable, and walkable communities. These benefits can be particularly significant in higher density urban neighborhoods where car-sharing is most feasible and the costs of providing parking spaces are greatest.
 

Excessive traffic standards and parking requirements are based on the assumption that everyone owns a car and that they drive their car everywhere they go. These requirements lead to widened roads and reduced densities, and create neighborhoods that support cars instead of the needs of people. Car sharing removes the justification for these requirements and therefore makes it easier to build compact, infill development that creates neighborhoods that are more hospitable to pedestrians and bicyclists. (Source: Co-operative Auto Network)

Economic development. Car sharing can increase the economic productivity of your community by allowing job seekers who cannot afford a personal vehicle to use a car while searching for employment or for work-related tasks for which a car is occasionally needed (such as meetings out of the office). Car sharing can also fill special market niches for vehicles among businesses. For example, small businesses could use a car sharing service as a more efficient and flexible alternative to owning or leasing a fleet of vehicles that receive only occasional use.

Introducing new and cleaner vehicle technologies. Car sharing can help introduce and test new, more environmentally-friendly vehicle technologies. Many car sharing organizations employ electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles. Additionally, there are tax incentives in some locales, especially California, for automakers to partner with car sharing programs to increase the use of alternative energy vehicles.

Vehicle choice. Motorists often purchase vehicles that exceed their usual needs in a vehicle in order to be prepared for occasional peak demands (i.e., they buy more capacity and/or performance than they need on a daily basis– such as a van, truck, or SUV– although a cheaper, smaller, and/or more fuel-efficient vehicle would usually be adequate for most of their trips). Because most car sharing organizations offer a choice of vehicle types, users can choose the vehicle type that best meets their needs for a particular trip. This benefits drivers, who can purchase less expensive, smaller, and/or more fuel efficient cars for their daily needs and then ‘car share’ a minivan for when relatives visit or a truck for helping a friend move. The expanded vehicle choice made possible by car sharing may also provide benefits to the general public as well, by reducing the use of oversized vehicles when smaller vehicles are adequate, thereby potentially reducing energy consumption, air pollution, traffic congestion, and parking shortages.

Option value: it’s there if you need it. Even people who do not currently make use of car sharing program may benefit from having this option available in case of emergencies or if their situation changes (this is called the ‘option value’). For this reason, people who currently own their own vehicle and drive regularly may value having car sharing program in their neighborhoods, just as many drivers value the existence of public transit service even if they only occasionally take transit, because they know that ‘it’s there if you need it.’

How does it work? Car sharing is a very simple concept that is easy for people to understand and use. The rest of this section explains how car sharing works from the perspective of potential users as well as from the perspective of someone who wants to set-up a car sharing organization.

Just sign up and drive. Most car share organizations make it very simple to join, as long as a person meets a few basic requirements. Although each group is different, common requirements include:
 

These requirements are frequently mandated by the organization's insurance carrier and are non-negotiable. An additional element of successful use of car share organizations is access to the internet, as many organizations provide only online application and reservation services. Finally, there may be an initial deposit fee and/or a one-time application fee associated with joining.

Once an application to join a car sharing organization is approved (a process usually taking 2-14 days), it is generally very simple for a new member to start driving a car share vehicle. Because each organization has a distinct reservation system and key access system, they usually orient new members on how to use the access keys and where their cars are located.

As the map of the ‘car share depots’ in the City of San Francisco below shows, cars are ideally distributed in numerous locations throughout the community in order to make the service accessible to as many people as possible. Locating car-sharing pickup spots near transit stations maximizes the ability of members to link their driving and transit trips together.
 

This map illustrates the many locations that City CarShare members can access vehicles in San Francisco. City CarShare has responded to the needs of its members by clustering depots in central areas that are most accessible by public transit. (Source: City CarShare)

Each organization has a distinct cost structure which will be influenced by regional costs of gas and parking. Rough guidelines for the costs associated with car sharing are as follows (see the chart in the Show Me the Money section for more specific car sharing rates from across the country:
 

Organizing and running a car sharing organization. Car sharing programs can be run as a for-profit or non-profit business venture or as a co-operative organization (also know as a ‘co-op’). Regardless of the organizational structure, most car sharing membership prices are kept relatively low so that car sharing remains a cost-effective alternative to ownership for people who drive less than 6,000-7,500 miles per year. The user charges discussed in the Just sign up and drive section (e.g., membership fees and deposits, hourly rates, and mileage charges) typically cover vehicle operating expenses, including fuel and insurance, but each organization must design its own pricing system.

LEARN MORE Variation on the Car Sharing Theme:  'Station Cars' (pop up window)

Car sharing organizations typically maintain a ratio of 20-50 members for each vehicle in their fleet, which is usually adequate to insure that cars are almost always available when a member needs one (although organizations with members who are frequent users will need to increase the size of their fleet as necessary). Recent research indicates that the ratio of members to actual drivers has in fact been increasing in the past few years, which may be related to an increase in small business membership (who usually enroll all of their employees so that the service will be available to anyone if needed, even though not all employees will be heavy users of the service). To learn more about the best practices and lesson learned from existing car sharing organizations around the world as well as read case studies of the programs in San Francisco and Amsterdam, jump to the ‘Who Else is Doing It?’ section. To learn more about the concept of station cars, a program related to car sharing, see the sidebar Variation on the Car Sharing Theme: ‘Station Cars’.