University propensity assessment to car sharing services using mixed survey data: the Italian case study of Enna city

Abstract

The sustainable development of urban areas, characterized by the expansion of university centers, can benefit from car sharing services, expanding the potential of public transport, especially when the population is almost represented by off-side students and commuters. This work focuses on the investigation of a set of attributes able to interpret and measure the propensity of students to join car sharing. The paper provides a discussion about the potential implementation of a car sharing service, particularly referring to the case of Enna (Italy), where university students constitute a significant percentage of residents. Students have been involved via a wide consultation survey and the analysis was conducted by using mixed Internet/paper survey data. The propensity was modelled in applying the Likert Scale and a chi-squared test was calculated to check the difference between expected and observed frequencies for several combinations of the analyzed attributes. Results are useful to understand their heterogeneous preferences and to define the way for a well-thought-out design of a new shared transport service.