Somebody recently pointed out to me a number of innovative car-sharing programs that have been established in key American cities.

Services like www.zipcar.com and www.flexcar.com allow flexible sharing of vehicles. Members reserve online the use of a vehicle for a set period of time. An electronic card allows them access to the car and all gas and insurance costs are covered.

Some of the green benefits claimed by the companies are impressive:

  • An increase of 14% percent in public transport use.
  • Members drove an average of only 369 miles per year (compared to normal use of 5295 miles per year)
  • Over 40% of our members decide against purchasing a car, or end up selling their car.
  • Each car replaces the use of 20 privately owned vehicles.

I don’t have any way of measuring these claims - but would love to hear from someone who has more direct experience with some of these services.

Car sharing will not solve our automobile problem. These kind of services work best in densely populated metropolitan areas with highly developed public transport systems. Private ownership will be a reality for the forseeable future. Longer term, the flexibility of private vehicle ownership also means that many people would be unwilling to entirely adopt the system.

However, reducing our dependance on traditional automobiles is going to require a multi-pronged response. If we can encourage uptake of this kind of service alongside the growth in hybrid vehicles we stand a much greater chance of achieving success.

 

technorati tags:car, sharing, green, emissions, pollution, environment