Identifying Users and Use of (Electric-) Free-Floating Carsharing in Berlin and Munich

Abstract

In the last decade the attractiveness of carsharing increased rapidly, not least because of the introduction of free-floating carsharing in 2009. In those kind of carsharing systems the rental vehicle does not need to be returned to a particular station but can be parked in any part of the operating area. There have been hardly any empirical findings on the use and effects of free-floating carsharing so far. Thus, this work presents results of user surveys (onCar questionnaire, online survey and discussions with focus groups) with customers of the free-floating carsharing operator DriveNow. Next to the analysis of the user the usage of such a carsharing system is evaluated by booking data of trips in Berlin and Munich from 2013. The Getis-Ord-Gi*-test is used for analyzing the spatial distribution of booking starts. The operator launched 60 electric vehicles in the fleet that makes an additional analysis for this special kind of free-floating carsharing possible. All approaches want to draw an informative picture of a typical free-floating carsharing user on the one side and about how this new mobility service is used in urban areas on the other side. By the discussions in the focus groups one obtains furthermore an impression about the acceptance of electric vehicles by the customers. One clear conclusion is that free-floating carsharing is mostly used by young well-educated people with an over-average income. Two main purposes of the trips are the way home and leisure time activities. The system is well-working in city or district centers while there are considerably less bookings in peripheral areas. This is also correct for electric free-floating carsharing that is principally accepted by the customers.