Skip to main content

Global number of car sharing users to reach 650 million by 2030

Car and ride sharing is just one example of the new on-demand economy allowing real-time matching of supply and demand through connected smartphone applications. According to ABI Research, successive forms of vehicle sharing approaches represent paradigm shifts in uptake and popularity; each new generation seeing adoption rates at least an order of magnitude larger than the previous: Car sharing 1.0 - street rental service: Cars parked on the street can be located, unlocked, used, and left behind. Examples
March 12, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSCar and ride sharing is just one example of the new on-demand economy allowing real-time matching of supply and demand through connected smartphone applications. According to 5725 ABI Research, successive forms of vehicle sharing approaches represent paradigm shifts in uptake and popularity; each new generation seeing adoption rates at least an order of magnitude larger than the previous:
 
Car sharing 1.0 - street rental service: Cars parked on the street can be located, unlocked, used, and left behind. Examples include 3874 Zipcar, 4190 car2go and 6452 DriveNow.
 
Car sharing 2.0 - ride sharing taxi service and carpooling: Private drivers picking up customers using their privately owned vehicles. Examples are Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, Carpooling.com and BlaBlaCar.
 
Car sharing 3.0 - robotic car service: Driverless cars which can be called remotely and used without a driver on board.
 
“While 1.0 allows sharing vehicles from a centrally managed fleet and 2.0 leverages the personal vehicles of individuals, 3.0 will combine both models—a hybrid between the old economy of official fleets and the new sharing economy, firmly rooted in the crowd sourcing paradigm. While Uber-like 2.0 services already start challenging car ownership, only the third generation of shared driverless cars will propel the ‘car as a service’ paradigm into the mainstream hereby transforming the automotive industry,” says VP and practice director Dominique Bonte.
 
In the meantime, the report says pioneering car sharing 2.0 companies like Uber are operating at the ‘edge of the law’, facing multiple regulatory, legal, social, security and safety challenges, thereby pushing reforms and paving the way for the new car sharing ecosystem of the future.
 
Uber’s surge pricing approach, adopting higher rates during peak times incentivising more Uber drivers to take to the road and guaranteeing availability, also risks being banned. It is just another example of innovation ahead of its time, using dynamic demand-response pricing as an effective transportation and traffic management instrument.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TRL to contribute to new autonomous vehicle research programme
    October 23, 2015
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) the, has announced it is part of a new US$17 million five-year research programme to develop fully autonomous cars. The programme, jointly funded by Jaguar Land Rover and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will look at some key technologies and questions that need to be addressed before driverless cars can be allowed on the roads without jeopardising the safety of other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. TRL is the on
  • PC for mobile digital signage applications
    July 30, 2012
    The VTC 2000 from NexCom International is a low-cost, in-vehicle PC which has been specifically designed for mobile digital signage applications. Featuring the energy-efficient Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, the VTC 2000 supports dual independent display and can play numerous file formats. For in-vehicle operation the platform can be powered directly from a vehicle's battery and has the ability to withstand extreme levels of shock and vibration. According to Nexcom, the device is therefore the ideal solu
  • Bulgaria to implement truck tolling system
    November 26, 2012
    The Bulgarian government is considering inviting investors to help it develop an electronic system for truck tolls. The project, which is worth up to US$648.26 million, will be developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. "We are looking for heavyweights, partners capable of making a serious investment of 200, 300, maybe 500 million euro, depending on the estimated cost of building such a system," Lilyana Pavlova told reporters at the Southeast Europe Business Forum.
  • Penang rolls out transport master plan
    February 18, 2015
    Six companies have been shortlisted as potential project delivery partners in the US$7.5 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), which is to be rolled out in stages from 2017. The plan aims to resolve traffic woes in the state, especially on the island. It involves massive infrastructure works and a comprehensive public transport system incorporating light rail transit, trams, buses and catamarans, expanding roads and building new highways. It also includes five new intra-state highways and an undersea