Is This the Right Tool for You?
Evaluation of Results, Analysis of Impacts
Starting a new car
sharing organization (or working to promote and
expand an existing car sharing program) can
bring numerous benefits to your community. The
rest of this section discusses many of these
benefits of car sharing, including less traffic
on neighborhood streets, fewer privately-owned
cars competing for roadway and parking spaces,
increased transit use, and increased bicycling
and walking.
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Car sharing
allows people to drive less
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A study by the
Swiss Federal Office of Energy
entitled Energie 2000/Mobility found that
the average driving reduction among all
car sharing members was -55% and the
average driving reduction among all
members who were former car owners was
-72%.
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Car sharing
helps to reduce the number of cars
purchased
-
AutoShare
found that 15% of members gave up a car
when they joined a car sharing
organization and 25% of members did not
buy a new car because they joined.
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According to the
Carsharing Network, each shared car
replaces at least 6 cars of that were
previously individually owned by car
sharing members.
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Car sharing
increases transit usage
-
The
CarSharing Network reports that 27% of
car sharing members use transit more (with
only 7% using transit less).
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A
UC Berkeley study found that
while only 35% of members’ trips were made
by transit before joining a car sharing
organization, 53% of trips were made by
transit after joining (for more info on
this study or a PDF version which you can
download and/or print out, see the
Toolkit Links in the
‘Dig a Little Deeper’ section).
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Car sharing
increases use of other alternative forms
of travel
-
In a study of car sharing in Portland,
members reported a 10% increase in
bicycling trips and a 26% increase in
walking trips (as reported in the study
Impacts of Car Sharing on Walking Behavior;
see the
Toolkit Links in the
‘Dig a Little Deeper’ section for
more info on this study or a PDF version
which you can download and/or print out).
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The
CarSharing Network found that 25% of
members of car sharing organizations
reported biking or rollerblading more (and
only 8% reported biking or rollerblading
less).
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Even more
significant changes in car use can be observed
in areas where car ownership is particularly
difficult and other modes of transportation are
readily available. Consider the benefits that
the
City CarShare program has brought to the San
Francisco Bay Area. City CarShare began in 2001
with 300 members and has grown to over 3,050
members by mid-2004. A recent study by the UC
Berkeley Institute of Urban and
Regional Development evaluated the local and
regional impacts of this car sharing program and
found the following results:
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Since joining, 30%
of CarShare member households have sold
one or more of their privately owned cars,
compared to 8% in a control group of
nonmembers. |
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Some 68% of the
CarShare members have chosen not to
purchase an additional car, compared to
39% of nonmembers. |
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Overall per-capita
automobile travel among City CarShare
members has dropped 47%, while travel
among nonmembers increased 73% over the
same period. |
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City CarShare is
saving 13,000 miles of vehicle travel, 720
gallons of gasoline, and 20,000 pounds of
carbon dioxide emissions each day in the
Bay Area. |
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Most CarShare
trips were made outside of peak travel
hours. |
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In the City of San
Francisco, 84% of the cases surveyed
indicate that car sharing was less costly
than renting cars or taking taxis. |
You can read the
full evaluation of the
City CarShare program online, or jump to the Toolkit
Links in the ‘Dig a Little Deeper’ section for a PDF version
of the report that you can download or print.
  
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