The term carsharing is also used for carpooling or ride sharing some places.

As is often the case with innovations that spring up more or less spontaneously in different parts of the world, operations are organized in many different ways in different places, according to the objectives of the organizers and users. A small informal start-up may have only one shared car, and only a handful of sharers. In the larger services that are increasingly coming into existence, participants are typically city-dwellers whose transportation needs are largely met by public transit, walking, or cycling.

Carsharing is supported by the New Mobility Agenda, which combines Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies and measures for containing, channeling and limiting private car traffic in cities, with support of a “bouquet” of alternative transportation arrangements. These include utility cycling, walking,Verde's Green Program in Miami, and public space improvement, electronic substitutes for travel (such as telework, telecommuting or e-work) and a variety of shared and public transport strategies.

History

The first reference to carsharing in print identifies the Selbstfahrergenossenshaft carshare program in a housing cooperative that got underway in Zürich in 1948, but there was no known formal development of the concept in the next few years. By the 1960s as innovators, industrialists, cities, and public authorities studied the possibility of high-technology transportation—mainly computer-based small vehicle systems (almost all of them on separate guideways)—it was possible to spot some early precursors to present-day service ideas and control technologies.

The early 1970s saw the first whole-system carshare projects. The ProcoTip system in France lasted only about two years. A much more ambitious project called the Witkar was launched in Amsterdam by the founders of the 1968 white bicycles project. A sophisticated project based on small electric vehicles, electronic controls for reservations and return, and plans for a large number of stations covering the entire city, the project endured into the mid-1980s before finally being abandoned.

The 1980s and first half of the 1990s was a "coming of age" period for carsharing, with continued slow growth, mainly of smaller non-profit systems, many in Switzerland and Germany, but also on a smaller scale in Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States. The real watershed in the development of the sector came in the 1990s with such larger and more structured projects as StattAuto in Germany, the two precursors of Mobility CarSharing in Switzerland, Bilkollektivet in Norway and Greenwheels in the Netherlands. Follow up developments include CommunAuto, then Co-operative Auto Network and later AutoShare in Canada, Flexcar Portland now Zipcar in Portland, Oregon, Zipcar in Boston and WhizzGo in England Nationwide and CityCarClub in England and Scotland, Smartdrivers.com.au Australia's first low cost and low emission carsharing solution.

This 1990s wave of innovation continued into the present decade, with carshare developments advancing at different speeds in different countries, but with a generally accelerating pace when taken in sum. The state of the art in carsharing in 2006 is increasingly competitive, increasingly well financed, and increasingly high tech. Smaller and simpler systems continue to grow in number and in some cases to prosper, but the emerging competition is in mid- and large-size cities. Whether the future belongs to non-profits or profit-making firms is hotly debated, with head-to-head competition in a growing list of cities, not only in the United States, including San Francisco and Washington, DC, but also in London in the United Kingdom where 3 main operators go head to head as well as Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, discussions and competition are increasing in European cities, where the winning model is still far from decided.

Description

Despite its evident English language origins, the term carsharing (earlier often written as two separate words, and still today occasionally hyphenated) is now the widely accepted international term. Synonyms include autodelen in Dutch, autopartage in French, bildeling in Danish, and bilpool in Swedish. In the United Kingdom the term "car clubs" is used, while "car sharing" is also used to refer to ride sharing. Brand names in use include: Andelsbilklub, AutoDelen, Autotaxis, Autoteilen, Auto zum Teilen, Autoparate, Bilpool, Block Cars, Caisse Commune, Cambio, CampusCars, CarSharing, Car-Share, CHOICE, CityCarClub, community cars, cOgO Car, Co-Op Auto Network, Cooperative Auto Network (CAN), Dancing Rabbit, Flexcar, GreenCar, HaBil, HOURCAR, ICVS, Mobizen, Motor Pool Co-operative, NTUC CarCo-op, Posibil (Norway), PubliCars, self-drive taxis, Stadtcar, Stadtmobil, Station Cars, StattAuto, teilAuto, Witkars and Zipcar.

"Carpooling" or "ride-sharing" refers to the shared use of a car for a specific journey, in particular for commuting to work, often by people who each have a car but travel together to save costs. However, there is a slight terminological hitch in the UK where the term car sharing (two words in this usage) is used for what in the U.S. is called "ride sharing". Carsharing in the sense discussed in this article is a recent development in Britain, and while such plans are still known more known as car clubs (a term which, in the U.S., refers strictly to a club of car hobbyists) the international term carsharing is gradually gaining currency there as well.

Carsharing is not a substitute for public transport, and in most of the 600+ cities where it has become established thus far, it is seen as a complement to scheduled transport service. Many studies show that carshare users are also relatively heavy users of both conventional public transport and of human powered transport, including bicycles and walking.

Carsharing differs from traditional car rentals in the following ways:

Carsharing is an “always-on” personal mobility service (with certain technical and economic constraints at any time)
Self-service reservation, pickup, and return
Vehicles can be rented by the hour, as well as by the day
Users are members and have been pre-approved to drive (background driving checks have been performed and a payment mechanism has been established)
Vehicle locations are distributed throughout the service area, and often located for access by Public transport.
Insurance and fuel costs are included in the rates.
Some carshare operations (CSOs) cooperate with local car rental firms to offer best value to their customers (in particular in situations where classic rental may be the cheaper option.)

How it works

The technology of CSOs varies enormously, from simple manual systems using key boxes and log books to increasingly complex computer-based systems with supporting software packages that handle a growing array of back office functions. The simplest CSOs have only one or two pick-up points, but more advanced systems have a decentralized network of parking locations (“pods”) stationed in different areas and located for access by Public transport.

While differing markedly in their objectives, size, business models, levels of ambition, technology and target markets, these programs do share many features. The more established operations usually require a check of past driving records and a monthly or annual fee in order to become a member. The vehicle is reserved in advance, usually over the Internet or telephone (and increasingly by mobile phones, including by SMS). Most companies charge an hourly fee for the time that the car is in use, plus a fee per mile/km driven. Some CSOs offer a discounted all-day rate for their cars. If a vehicle is not returned at the scheduled time, a high penalty is charged, since it may interfere with other drivers' reservations. Members are responsible for leaving the vehicles on time, in the agreed parking area, clean and in good condition for the next user.

Goals, advantages, and achievements

Carsharing is a highly decentralized phenomenon which varies in its goals and implementations widely from place to place. Similarly there are wide variations in goals, etc. The listing that follows has been compiled from numerous sources, some of which are identified in the Reference section below, and others which can be found in the shared library of resources and research the World Carshare Consortium:

Most carsharing advocates, operators and cooperating public agencies believe that those who do not drive daily or who drive less than 10,000 kilometers (about 6,200 statute miles) annually may find carsharing to be more cost-effective than car ownership.[3] (In point of fact, x2 variations up and down on this figure are reported by operators and others depending on local context.) Sharing vehicles amongst several users provides more alternatives to people that cannot afford car ownership. It can also help ease congestion on busy city streets and parking lots. For some users, carsharing reduces the dependence on automobiles and increases usage of more environmentally friendly forms of transportation.

Disadvantages and limitations

Until now, successful carsharing development has tended to be associated mainly with densely populated areas such as city centers and more recently university and other campuses. But now that the concept has started to catch on (with operations working today in more than six hundred cities world wide) and the technologies and organizational details are beginning to be mastered, there are programs going on, mainly in Europe to date, for providing services in lower density, including some rural areas.

Based on past experience alone, a certain number of arguments are advanced from time to time concerning the limitations of carsharing as a viable daily transport alternative. Among these possibly premature conclusions:

It is important that there be adequate density of these potential users so that a vehicle can be well used.
The concept does not work well in heavily suburbanized areas (those suffering from urban sprawl). Such areas have generally been built for those who own a vehicle, and a resident would not be able to conveniently reach a central pickup location if there is insufficient public transit.
Carsharing works best as a complement to an adequate public transport system. Carsharing is less successful in places where there is no suitable public transport system and significant numbers of people need a car to get to work or for other every day transport needs.
In the developing world, there are several main currents of resistance to this transportation concept. By many observers, including experts, it is felt to be irrelevant given the scope of the problems that especially the larger and more traffic strangled mega-cities face.
Since carsharing competes with an idea and mode of life which is largely supported by the media (not necessarily consciously), entrenched habits and beliefs, and broadly shared aspirations of many people in many places (that is owning and driving your own car), it is not an easy idea to gain support for. On the other hand, as incomes rise in cities and demand for cars follows suit, carsharing can be marketed as the highest status car ownership: unlike car owners that can only own one car, carsharing members have access to different cars to suit the particular need of the moment, and someone else deals with all the "dirty" work of car maintenance and repair.