Carsharing on university campus: Subsidies, commuter benefits, and their impacts on carsharing

Abstract

This article examines, via a case study, what efforts a university needs to make to initiate and sustain a carsharing program. It also examines how subsidies offered to employees affect the subscription to a carsharing program and the employees’ carsharing consumption. It finds that a university must offer a significant amount of support (both financial and labor) to initaite and sustain a carshsaring program. In the case study, it shows that at least an annual subsidy of $1500/vehicle needs be offered to attract a carsharing company to serve a university. In addition, commuter benefits offered by the university help attract university carsharers and stabilize the customer pool of the carsharing program. In the studied case, 34% of all the carsharers join carsharing because of commuter benefits. Reduced carsharing subsidies (e.g., decreased free carsharing hours) significantly decrease carsharing consumption but not the overall subscriptions to the carsharing program.