Skip to main content

Study finds fewer cars, improved emissions with one-way car-sharing

The University of California, Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) has released results from the first-ever study of one-way car-sharing in North America and its impact on mobility. The researchers say the findings clearly illustrate that one-way car-sharing reduces the number of cars travelling on city roads and occupying parking spaces on city streets. The study, which gathered data from nearly 9,500 North American car2go members residing in Calgary; San Diego; Seattle; Van
July 20, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The University of California, Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) has released results from the first-ever study of one-way car-sharing in North America and its impact on mobility.

The researchers say the findings clearly illustrate that one-way car-sharing reduces the number of cars travelling on city roads and occupying parking spaces on city streets.

The study, which gathered data from nearly 9,500 North American 4190 car2go members residing in Calgary; San Diego; Seattle; Vancouver; and Washington, DC that between two per cent to five per cent of the car2go population sold a vehicle due to car2go across the study cities. In addition, another seven per cent to 10 per cent of respondents did not acquire a vehicle due to car2go.

The study also found that each car2go vehicle removes between seven to 11 vehicles from city roads (including sold and suppressed), while one to three private vehicles were sold across the five cities per car2go vehicle. In total, car2go took an estimated 28,000-plus vehicles off of the road and reduced parking demand.

Researchers found a six per cent to 16 per cent reduction in vehicle miles travelled (VMT) across the study population (an average of 11 per cent) and a four per cent to 18 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the study population (an average of 10 per cent).

Estimates suggest that car2go's one-way car-sharing service prevented between 10 and 29 million VMT per year per city, depending on assumptions of suppressed mileage, which in turn removed between 5.5 to 12.7 metric tons of GHG emissions per car2go vehicle annually (on average).

The average age of vehicles car2go members reported selling averaged 14.4 years across all the cities, thus helping to remove more polluting vehicles with older emission systems from city streets.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ability to keep in touch on US buses woos travellers
    February 1, 2012
    David Crawford finds evidence of a new trend in American intercity travel: that better access to data sources on the move is tempting passengers away from air travel and onto surface modes. In the US the ease of use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) is successfully wooing long-distance travellers away from airlines and onto surface public transport, according to just-published research. Using data from field observations of 7,028 passengers travelling by bus, air and train in 14 US states and the Distri
  • Evidence growing for distance-based charging
    January 18, 2012
    The case is growing for an alternative to fuel taxation for funding highway infrastructure. A more sustainable system of mileage-based charging can be established in a way that is acceptable to the travelling public, writes Jack Opiola. Fuel tax - the lifeblood relied on for 80 years to maintain and improve roads and transit systems - is now in considerable jeopardy in the United States. Increased vehicle fuel efficiency and a poor economy already hamper generation of fuel tax revenue; now a recent federal
  • US caregivers get a Lyft
    April 16, 2020
    Ride-sharing company Lyft is offering free rides in the US to caregivers of homebound older adults during the Covid-19 crisis.
  • Air quality tops transportation agendas
    November 17, 2014
    Colin Sowman catches up on some of the latest research around outdoor pollution and looks at options available to authorities in areas of poor air quality. Iair quality hasn’t already reached the top of the agenda in transportation department meetings in your area, it probably soon will with national, trans-national and even global bodies calling for authorities to reduce pollution levels.