Car-Sharing – “Car-on-call” for reclaiming street space

Abstract

All larger cities worldwide suffer under the high number of cars. Congestion and low environmental quality lead to problems for the social and economic well-being of cities and their citizens. Innovative solutions are required to reduce the huge consumption of public street space for parking. The smart solution of Car-Sharing (or car clubs as they are called in the UK) reduces the needs to own a car. Car-Sharing gives you access to a car without ownership. Electronically controlled 24/7 access, decentralised stations (with reserved parking spots) and a variety of vehicles provide a reliable, flexible and cost-efficient alternative to car ownership and supplement a good provision of the sustainable modes of walking, cycling and public transport. Car-Sharing could also serve as part of strategies to implement alternatively fuelled cars with limited range, size, etc. – as the availability of a variety of vehicles in a wider mobility concept allows one to choose the mode and the car that best fits the purpose of travel. Despite its huge prospect, the exploitation of the potential is not (yet?) subject of any major European research programmes.As a forerunner city for sustainable transport, Bremen promotes a (privately operated) Car-Sharing service. As one of the main results, the current (December 2011) 7,000 Car-Sharing users have removed more than 1,500 cars from the road. The City of Bremen has prepared a politically adopted Action Plan to accelerate the growth – aiming for at least 20,000 Car-Sharers by 2020 – reducing parking requirements by at least 6,000 spaces. Measures include: increasing the network of on-street Car-Sharing stations, promoting the integration of Car-Sharing into fleet management, integration of Car-Sharing into urban development and awareness-raising. In recognition of the huge potential of Car-Sharing for urban development, the City of Bremen was selected in an international competition as an urban best practice example and thus permanently presented at the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai (theme: Better city, better life).The European project, momo (www.momo-cs.eu), demonstrated the potential to regain the street space required by 600,000 cars by implementing Car-Sharing on a European scale. Car-Sharing today is concentrated in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and in some large cities in other countries (e.g. London). Meanwhile, cities in eastern, south eastern and central Europe suffer under the impacts of large increases in car ownership. But starting up a Car-Sharing operation is difficult in the context of the symbolic status still held by the car in many places combined with low levels of awareness of Car-Sharing. Links: www.momo-cs.eu; www.expo-carsharing.info