Use Of Carsharing Research Articles

How to design subsidy policies to better encourage travelers to use car-sharing instead of private cars? An evolutionary game study

Car-sharing is a travel mode that can serve as an alternative to private cars, helping to reduce urban pollution. However, currently, there is a low willingness among travelers to use car-sharing, which is reflected in both low market penetration and user frequency. Therefore, it is essential for the government to encourage the use of car-sharing by providing subsidies. To better encourage the usage of car-sharing, this paper applies a two-fold evolutionary game model involving travelers and the government to explore the impact of subsidies on travelers’ choices, and the factors that could affect the subsidies’ efficiency. A simulation, using data from Beijing, was conducted to determine the implications of subsidy policies. The results show that a mileage-based subsidy and a fixed subsidy are applicable to travel of high and low mileages respectively, and under both subsidy modes, subsidies for trips with short duration or short pick-up and return time are more effective. Furthermore, we find that the efficiency of subsidies increases as the scale of car-sharing users, demand elasticity, or total number of travelers increases. Additionally, the subsidy levels should be lower than the environmental benefits of car-sharing but higher than the difference in travel costs between private cars and car-sharing. Future work will involve other game players such as car-sharing operators in order to draw deeper conclusions, and will involve the collection of data from more countries and cities to develop the robustness of the conclusions.

Motivational Patterns and Personal Characteristics of Potential Carsharing Users: A Qualitative Analysis

In the last decade, in Europe and the US, carsharing has become a mainstream transportation mode offering a sustainable solution to serious urban problems such as pollution, economic crisis, congestion, and parking. In Greece, carsharing is currently entering its commercial phase. Planners and providers strive to gain an insight into the factors influencing the use of carsharing to effectively implement carsharing systems (CSS). In this context, understanding the motives and usage conditions are considered necessary. Based on a qualitative analysis (semi-constructed interviews, n = 52), this paper identifies motivational patterns as well as personal characteristics of potential users that can be further explored through quantitative research methods. During the data analysis process, participants’ responses were classified into categories that revealed not only the factors that motivated them but also unveiled the challenges they face when utilizing carsharing schemes. These factors were the following: familiarity, comfort, mindset, everyday life, usability, and economy. Next, these factors were analyzed further based on the personal characteristics of the respondents preparing the ground for quantitative research in future research initiatives. Notably, the present findings could be beneficial to operators, policymakers, and stakeholders endeavoring to appraise shared mobility schemes in Greece and Mediterranean countries in general.

RFMC 모델 기반의 카 셰어링 지속 사용에 관한 연구

정보 기술의 발전으로, 공유 경제 서비스는 새로운 형태의 소비 방식으로 자리 잡았다. 특별히 차량을 소유하지 않고 빌려 쓰는 형태인 카 셰어링은 개인들의 이동 수단의 범위를 확장하는 새로운 서비스이다. 차량 소유로 발생하는 비효율성을 줄이고, 교통 문제를 완화하는 등 카 셰어링은 다양한 사회적 이점을 제공하지만, 이를 구현하기 위해서는 개인의 카 셰어링 서비스 이용 패턴을 이해하고 이용자의 서비스 재사용을 유도해야 한다. 본 연구는 개인의 카 셰어링 서비스 재사용 행동을 이해하기 위해 RFMC (Recency, Frequency, Monetary, and Clumpiness) 모델을 활용하였다. 국내 카 셰어링 서비스 업체의 데이터를 분석한 결과, 카 셰어링 서비스 재사용에 Recency, Monetary 는 부의 영향을, Frequency는 정의 영향을 끼치는 것으로 나타났다. 더욱이 Clumpiness가 높은 집단의 경우, Recency와 Monetary의 효과는 두드러지는 반면, Frequency의 영향은 미미해졌다. 이러한 연구 결과를 바탕으로, 이론적, 실무적 함의를 도출하였다.

Sustainable Consumption as a Status Symbol? Drivers and Barriers of Sustainable Consumption and the Use of Car Sharing

In today's society, especially among Millennials and GenZ, there is a growing trend towards sustainable consumption. Companies are reacting to this with a wide range of sustainable products and services, such as sharing offers like car sharing. This qualitative study examines the drivers and barriers of sustainable consumption behavior and the use of car sharing as well as personal status symbols among the tribe of sustainable students. A special focus is placed on the question of whether status-related motives represent incentives for sustainable consumption and the use of car sharing or whether these can serve as status symbols. The results show that motives for sustainable consumption are primarily ecological and functional in nature. Car sharing is primarily used for functional reasons. Neither sustainable consumption behavior nor car sharing are seen as status symbols among sustainable students; a potential status gain through sustainable consumption or sharing use cannot be identified as a motive. However, the study also provides indications that this could change in coming years.

Psychosocial aspects of the use and provision of carsharing services in the Czech Republic

The concept of shared mobility involves a type of transportation based on advanced digital technologies which make it possible to approach mobility as a service. This concept seeks to reduce the need for individual ownership of means of transport and enhance the effectiveness of their use. The aim of this paper is – to identify the reasons for the use of carsharing services among Czech users and to reveal the perceived barriers and benefits from the perspective of both providers and users of carsharing services. In line with the objectives of the paper, qualitative research was chosen. The study is expected to describe the psychosocial aspects of the use of carsharing, and report experience with the provision of such services in the Czech Republic. Based on an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we found several reasons, benefits and barriers to the use and provision of B2C carsharing among 11 users and 4 providers. The contributions of this paper include the fact that it focuses on the experiences of both parties - carsharing providers and carsharing users, and it is the first study of this type that has been conducted in the Czech Republic. This deliverable was co-financed by the grant projects IGA_FF_2021_001 and IGA_FF_2021_018 (UPOL).

Impact of Car-Sharing and Ridesourcing on Public Transport Use: Attitudes, Preferences, and Future Intentions Regarding Sustainable Urban Mobility in the Post-Soviet City

The impacts of ICT-based mobility services vary in different cities, depending on socioeconomic, urban form, and cultural parameters. The impacts of car-sharing and ridesourcing on public transport have not been investigated appropriately in post-Soviet Union cities. This study presents exploratory evidence on how ridesourcing and car-sharing affect public transport usage in Moscow. Additionally, it studies how demographics, spatial parameters, attitudes, and travel preferences influence the frequency of use of ridesourcing and car-sharing in Moscow. An online mobility survey was conducted at the beginning of 2020 among respondents (sample size is 777) in the Moscow agglomeration. Overall, 66% of ridesourcing users shifted from public transport to these mobility services, which shows the substitutional impact of ridesourcing on public transport. Additionally, the logit model indicates that the regular use of ridesourcing negatively correlates with the regular use of buses/trams/trolleybuses in Moscow. The impact of car-sharing on public transport seems less substitutional and more complementary than the impact of ridesourcing. Overall, 40% of car-sharing users would replace their last car-sharing trip with public transport if car-sharing was unavailable. Moreover, the logit model indicates a positive association between the regular use of car-sharing and the use of buses/trams/trolleybuses. Moreover, the modal split analysis shows a bigger share of public transport use and walking than car use among citizens’ urban journeys in Moscow.

Behavioral factors impacting adoption and frequency of use of carsharing: A tale of two European cities

Innovative mobility services have emerged in many urban areas, causing a notable change in transport supply. Particularly, free-floating carsharing has allowed gaining short-term access to cars on an as-needed basis. In Europe, carsharing has experienced remarkable growth in the past few years and is often perceived as a shift towards sustainable mobility. While an increasing number of studies have analyzed individuals’ behavior, most authors analyze carsharing in contexts where this service is not available yet. Furthermore, little attention has been given to exploring the role played by psychosocial aspects. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring carsharing usage in two European cities (Madrid and Munich), cities with a different timespan implementation. Based on the individual-level dataset from a survey campaign conducted in 2019, we develop a Generalized Structural Equation Model (GSEM) that estimates how sociodemographic characteristics, mobility-related attributes, and psychological attitudes affect carsharing usage. The research identifies a higher use of free-floating carsharing among males, young, wealthy, well-educated individuals, and those who reside in inner and denser districts. Interestingly, the model results suggest that people with a high sharing propensity, variety-seeking lifestyle, and preference for driving have a significantly higher familiarity with carsharing services, while pro-environmental behaviors reduce carsharing usage. This research shows the importance of the background and sociodemographic context on carsharing usage by comparing the results obtained for each city. Finally, the paper provides interesting policy implications, helpful for planners and policymakers to better understand the factors impacting carsharing usage and its potential effects on travel behavior and sustainability.

Modeling Consumers’ Use of Carsharing and Ridesharing Services - An Integrated Finite Mixture Copula-Based Behavioral Choice Framework

Modeling Consumers’ Use of Carsharing and Ridesharing Services - An Integrated Finite Mixture Copula-Based Behavioral Choice Framework

A user-based adaptive joint relocation model combining electric car-sharing and bicycle-sharing

This paper presents a user incentive-based adaptive joint relocation model, combining electric car-sharing and bicycle-sharing to optimize the spatiotemporal distribution of shared electric vehicles and increase the use of car-sharing. On the one hand, the optimization model takes subsidy cost and user satisfaction into consideration. On the other hand, multiple dynamic constraints, including the state of charge of electric vehicles, cycling distance, station status, the historical trend of user orders, are considered. Then, the Genetic Algorithm is adapted to solve this joint relocation model; the optimal subsidy price for users, initial vehicle configuration and multi-time-period dynamic thresholds in each station and vehicle relocation scheme are obtained. Finally, a well-known electric vehicle-sharing company is chosen as a case study. The results show that the relocation cost of joint relocation is reduced by around 70% compared with traditional staff relocation, and user satisfaction can be enhanced.

“Is Sharing Really Caring?”: The Role of Environmental Concern and Trust Reflecting Usage Intention of “Station-Based” and “Free-Floating”—Carsharing Business Models

Global use of carsharing has increased. The dominant model is station-based carsharing, but free-floating providers are continuously increasing their businesses volumes. Carsharing customers have been described as environmentally conscious with a high preference for mobility providers who show responsibility and trustworthiness. This generalization of usage determinants appears to be questionable given the background of current market developments. Existing research in the area is lacking a context-sensitive view of the antecedents of potential carsharing usage. Do environmental concerns and trust have similar effects on usage intention of carsharing, when free-floating providers implement business models that are more flexible, digital, and sophisticated? Using a standardized online survey, this study paper applied a framework adapted from the Theory of Planned Behavior (ToPB) that included the constructs of trust and environmental concern. The focus was on Share Now and Stadtmobil, which are the largest free-floating and station-based providers, respectively, in Germany. Using structural equation modeling, the study explored potential perception differences between both business models among German consumers. Although not significant, results indicate slightly higher total effects of environmental concern and initial trust on the usage intention of station-based compared to free-floating carsharing. Depending on the type of carsharing, different priorities should be set in the respective business model.

Who gives up a private car for a car-sharing service? An empirical case study of Incheon City, South Korea

Car-sharing services are an example of sharing economy business models in urban transportation. Car-sharing is attracting global attention as a practical test subject within sharing economies. A few studies have been conducted on the effects of car-sharing, but little research has been performed on the effects of car-sharing on the disposal of owned cars and the purchase of new cars. This study analyzes the characteristics of people who change car ownership plans or intentions to purchase a private car after using car-sharing services. We conducted a survey on car-sharing users, focusing on the question, “Has there been a change in private car ownership and purchase plans after using car-sharing?” We used a multinomial logistic regression model for statistical analysis. Based on our main findings, we suggest four strategies to promote car-sharing. First, there should be a focus on car-sharing coupons or promotional brochures for women who are considering buying a new car. Second, there should be promotions for elderly users of car-sharing. Third, car-sharing stations should be established near residences with low household membership, low household income, and limited space for parking. Fourth, the service management status of car-sharing companies contracted with local governments should be assessed to maintain high satisfaction levels in users. This study is meaningful in that it presents specific policies to both increase the use of car-sharing and reduce private car ownership.

The Psychology of Sharing: Multigroup Analysis among Users and Non-Users of Carsharing

The present study investigates the determinants of intention to use carsharing services by an integrated model of psychological predictors of travel behavior. The model proposed is tested by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) in structural equation modeling (SEM) with further discussion about analysis of invariance and its relevance for comparisons between groups. The sample was classified into four groups: Italian users, Italian non-users, Swedish users, and Swedish non-users of carsharing. The users were respondents who have used or are currently using carsharing, while non-users reported never using the carsharing services. The analysis of data from 6072 respondents revealed that control was the main predictor of intention to use carsharing; driving habits had stronger negative effects for users of carsharing than for non-users; subjective norms positively predicted the intention to use carsharing among all groups; trust was a predictor of intention only for the Italian groups; and climate morality had a small negative effect on the Swedish groups only. The outcomes of this investigation will increase the knowledge about the use of carsharing and help to identify the behavioral and psychological factors that primarily influence people’s intention to use it.

The Determinants to Promote College Students’ Use of Car-Sharing: An Empirical Study at Dalian Maritime University, China

Sustaining the development of car-sharing is considered an efficient way to counter environmental issues worldwide. Against this background, college students are recognized as a promising customer group of car-sharing service providers in China. However, the determinants that promote students’ willingness to use car-sharing services are rarely studied, and the uniqueness of college students in China in the context of car-sharing is justified. Therefore, this paper examines the key factors that affect Chinese college students’ adoption of car-sharing. An empirical study using samples from Dalian Maritime University was conducted, and survey data were collected via the Internet. Specifically, respondents’ socio-demographics were obtained, and their latent attitudes on car-sharing services were measured in terms of willingness to use car-sharing services, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and safety concerns. In addition, nine hypothetical travel scenarios were defined, and regarding each travel scenario, the respondents were asked to state whether they were willing or not to use car-sharing services. On this basis, a hybrid logit model was established to investigate the key factors that influenced the willingness to use car-sharing services. Aside from the common findings in line with previous studies, the results indicate that with the increase in the number of travel fellows, willingness to use car-sharing services went up. Furthermore, college students’ willingness to use car-sharing services was significantly affected by money costs rather than time costs. Additionally, college students in China are more likely to use car-sharing services during workday off-peak hours and weekends. Separately, among the respondents’ latent attitudes, only the perceived usefulness of car-sharing services was found to have a significant and positive impact on students’ willingness to use them. Relevant policy implications with regards to theoretical findings are also offered in this paper to car-sharing service providers in China.

Carsharing in the Czech Republic: Understanding why users chose this mode of travel for different purposes

Carsharing is a relatively new and growing mobility service in many cities. Although there are numerous carsharing initiatives in operation around the world, it is still not clear how they will affect overall travel behavior. Understanding the effects of carsharing when combined with other existing travel modes is an important prerequisite for decision-makers for them to be able to positively utilise the benefits of carsharing services. Such new mobility services need to be incorporated into existing modelling tools to reliably evaluate the impact of specific measures and policies.The presented study provides an insight into one aspect of such models: the use of carsharing for various trip purposes by users with different socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes. We identify variables that should be used for computing the utility function for users with different backgrounds, perceptions, and preferences.In this study, existing users of a carsharing company operating in various Czech cities participated in a survey and their responses were paired with records of their real carsharing usage patterns. To reduce the number of variables, principal component analysis was used, mainly with attitudinal and perception questions. The principal components based on survey respondents’ attitudes towards carsharing and socio-demographic and other variables were used in logistic regression to identify parameters that most significantly influence various purposes for trips.The results confirm the hypothesis that trip purposes differ significantly among carsharing users and need to be incorporated into macroscopic carsharing usage models. These findings can assist municipality representatives and transport companies in considering carsharing as a valid and sustainable travel mode in traffic models and studies.

The environmental benefits of carsharing: the case study of Palermo.

The problems related to traffic emissions are becoming increasingly pressing and serious, especially in big cities where the private car plays the main role in the mobility of people, being excessively used, while walking, cycling and the use of public transport are often seen as secondary options and are hampered by a poorly urban environment. Therefore, solutions must be found to reduce the number of cars circulating in the city and to support the most sustainable modes of transport at the same time, in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and harmful substances. A modal alternative which is of undoubted interest could be represented by carsharing, which is a mode complementary to public transport, often involves walking or cycling and causes a reduction in private cars and kilometers travelled. This paper aims to estimate, therefore, the environmental benefits related to carsharing, using the COPERT methodology, developed within the European project CORINAIR for the estimation of road-transport related pollutant emissions. As a case study, the carsharing service in the city of Palermo has been chosen, where pollution and congestion caused by the excessive use of car are fundamental problems that the administration has to solve. The research has shown that there are benefits deriving from the use of carsharing in terms of reducing emissions of pollutants: there is a reduction of 25% for PM10 and of 38% for CO2. However, these benefits are limited compared to the emissions of the registered fleet circulating in Palermo.

Factors affecting car-sharing and participation in the sharing economy

<p>The dissemination of the idea of the sharing economy has created new opportunities in many areas of consumer life. A particular impact can be seen in the short-term rental and joint travel market. The popularity of online portals allowing shared car trips demonstrates that this is an area worth exploring. This research involved 275 respondents in order to identify the main factors conditioning the willingness to use these types of services. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the existence of three factors – savings, expectation and atmosphere – that determine the use of car-sharing. The article describes the entire procedure and estimates the fit of the model. Finally, limitations and recommendations for further research are provided.</p>

Different business models – different users? Uncovering the motives and characteristics of business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer carsharing adopters in The Netherlands

Carsharing is regarded to play an important part in the transition towards a more sustainable mobility system by changing how cars are used and transportation needs are met. Carsharing adopters own less cars, ride less car kilometers and depend on multiple transportation modes for their travel needs. There has been considerable interest in understanding the characteristics and motives of carsharing adopters. Yet, studies have been mostly limited to small-scale surveys, covering only specific cities or organizations and focusing on traditional B2C carsharing, disregarding the growing popularity of P2P carsharing through online platforms. This study contributes to extant research by investigating whether characteristics and motives differ between B2C and P2P carsharing adopters, and broadening the scope of the analysis to include an entire country (The Netherlands) and different carsharing provider types. First, our findings suggest that B2C and P2P carsharing adopters are rather similar in their characteristics but differ in the frequency in which they make use of carsharing and public transport. Second, we provide novel insights into the characteristics that influence a car owner to become an adopter of P2P carsharing as a provider. We find that car owners who already shared their car informally outside an online platform are also much more likely to provide their car through an online platform. We conclude with describing policy implications of our findings. Regulation should focus on shaping favorable conditions for a connected multi-modal transportation system instead of specific regulations for each carsharing business model.

Carpooling and carsharing for commuting in the Paris region: A comprehensive exploration of the individual and contextual correlates of their uses

The transport sector and the use of individual cars in particular are sources of negative externalities. Shared mobility could form a solution to this issue. This study contributes to a better understanding of the implementability of such a shared mobility by exploring the potential determinants of the use of carpooling and carsharing for commuting among a comprehensive set of socio-demographic, socio-economic, interpersonal and contextual variables. The analyses are based on a representative sample of 2002 workers living in the Paris region. Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon tests and multivariate logistic models were used to characterize the differences between carpoolers and carsharing users and to identify the correlates of mode use in our sample. We outline that the correlates differ between the two shared modes. Our models first highlight the importance of contextual variables: the use of carpooling mainly concerns people who live in rather deprived neighborhoods, while carsharing is overrepresented in well-to-do and denser neighborhoods. We identify the importance of mobility management policies within the workplace and the positive role of information. Having a carpooling service within the company is positively associated with carpooling for commuting. Regarding carsharing, the awareness of existing services (free-floating and peer-to-peer) is positively associated with carsharing use. Finally, the main originality of this study is the identification of the key role of the entourage (colleagues and/or family members) in both carpooling and carsharing. Public policies should therefore consider these results to exploit several levers to favor the use of shared modes in the Paris region.

One-way and round-trip carsharing: A stated preference experiment in Beijing

This study examines the factors that influence the use of carsharing systems in Beijing, as well as the potential for carsharing systems that integrate electric vehicles. Investigated variables include weather, air quality, price, vehicle attributes and “status” indicators. Additionally, we explore how the impacts of these factors differ when carsharing is utilized for one-way trips as compared with round-trips. The study relies on a pen-and-paper survey (1010 completed survey forms with 2023 reported trips) which uses a stated-preference pivoting design to build hypothetical choice sets around actual trips. The data are used to estimate binomial logit regression models for one-way and round-trip carsharing. Results of the analysis indicate that age, car ownership, shelter mode, the original cost for taxi users, perceived parking availability, cold weather, and relative cost differences are significant for one-way carsharing. For round-trip carsharing, significant factors include car ownership, income, gender, environmental concern, and relative cost differences. The most statistically significant factors to attract carsharing customers are the cost gap (defined as cost of original mode – cost of carshare) for both one-way and round-trip carsharing services, and car ownership, which has a positive significant effect for one-way trips and a negative significant effect for round-trips. This paper contributes to the literature by further examining the determinants that affect the use of carsharing, distinguishing between one-way trips and round-trips, and developing models that can be applied in urban environments like Beijing.

The Impact of Carsharing on Car Ownership in German Cities

Carsharing, currently growing strongly in Germany, is an important instrument for sustainable urban mobility. The present boom is mainly due to so-called “free-floating carsharing”. Whilst the environmental effects of station-based carsharing have been intensively studied in the German-speaking context, to date there have been hardly any empirical findings on the effect of free-floating carsharing.Using the example of DriveNow and Flinkster in Berlin and Munich, this article examines to what extent free-floating carsharing leads to a reduction of car ownership compared to station-based carsharing. Based on online surveys (n=819/227) carried out within the “WiMobil” project (9/2012 – 10/2015), descriptive analyses and two binary logistic regressions were performed.The findings show that station-based and free-floating carsharing leads to a reduction of private cars but to different degrees (DriveNow 7%; Flinkster 15%). The shedding of cars is influenced by the frequency of use of carsharing and the increasing membership of station-based carsharing providers. Furthermore, for many people of both systems carsharing is an important reason not to buy a car. But there is also a significant proportion of people planning a car purchase. This is true especially for car-savvy persons for whom car ownership is very important. Thus, carsharing can be an important factor for sustainable urban mobility. In order to maximize the positive effects of carsharing, it is of central importance to reach additional user groups such as women and elderly people with private car ownership.