Number cars in car sharing schemes

Different types of business models for car sharing exist such as cooperative, business-to-consumer  roundtrip and one-way, as well as peer-to-peer carsharing (Münzel et al., 2018). Therefore, we note that there are different definitions of car sharing which results in heterogeneous data collection.

Car sharing is an example of a circularity measure that facilitates transitioning from an ownership model to a service model and is one of the best-known examples of the sharing economy, which has emerged as a way to reduce the environmental impact and costs of using products, whilst maintaining (or increasing) accessibility.

In 2020, the passenger car fleet of the EU Member States reached 250 million, and it continues to grow. Most cars are owned, and many households have at least one privately owned car, which typically is only partially used. Sharing schemes enable cars to be used more efficiently and should also reduce the number of cars that are being produced. Car sharing can help to reduce the impact of car transport by increasing the occupancy rate of the car or accelerating the uptake of newer, more fuel-efficient cars. It is beneficial to create a shift from private car use to collaborative car use, but it is very important to avoid attracting users of public transport, bike users or pedestrians towards car sharing transport options.

Previous research has proved some of these benefits of car sharing: reductions of mileage, reduced land occupation due to less parking needs, etc. Research also suggests that car sharing has contributed to a smaller car fleet. Furthermore, it is estimated that households who engage in car sharing travel less far, the average distance travelled by households with a shared car is less than half of the average kilometres travelled by households with a privately owned car (Schreier, 2018). A more recent study in Germany from Kolleck (2021) found that one station-based shared car replaces nine privately owned cars. However, there is no significant link between free-floating shared cars and private cars. It might be that shared cars are added to the car fleet in a country and considered as complementary cars.

Literature

Münzel, K., Boon, W., Frenken, K., & Vaskelainen, T. (2018). Carsharing business models in Germany: characteristics, success and future prospects. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 16, 271-291.

Schreier, H., Grimm, C., Kurz, U., Schwieger, D. B., Keßler, S., & Möser, D. G. (2018). Analysis of the impacts of car-sharing in Bremen. Germany, Final Report, EU.

Kolleck, A. (2021). Does car-sharing reduce car ownership? Empirical evidence from Germany. Sustainability, 13(13), 7384.

Amatuni, L., Ottelin, J., Steubing, B., & Mogollón, J. M. (2020). Does car sharing reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Assessing the modal shift and lifetime shift rebound effects from a life cycle perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 266, 121869.

Pauliuk, S., Heeren, N., Berrill, P., Fishman, T., Nistad, A., Tu, Q., Wolfram, P., & Hertwich, E. G. (2021). Global scenarios of resource and emission savings from material efficiency in residential buildings and cars. Nature communications, 12(1), 5097.

Loose, W., 2010. The State of European Car-Sharing, Final Rep. D 2.4 Work Package 2 momo Car-Sharing, http://www.eltis.org/sites/default/files/tool/the_state_of_carsharing_europe.pdf  (accessed 30/11/2023).