The ongoing evolution of car sharing

Car sharing is booming in the US and new sharing frameworks are emerging to suit different user needs. Two significant changes to car sharing over the past few years include the introduction of both short, one-way journey car sharing (such as Car2Go) and informal ‘sharing economy’ car sharing (such as RelayRides). Both are enjoying an increase in use and popularity, and in the US, it’s easy to understand why. 

As far as urban mobility solutions go, short term car sharing allows users to pick up and drop off a car anywhere within a specific boundary, usually encompassing the urban core of a city. Therefore this model provides flexibility to users, offering one-way journeys and the ability to park the car without a parking charge (through an agreement between car share providers and the city). RelayRides is an offshoot of the sharing economy. It  allows car owners to ‘sublet’ their car for a period of time, from hours, days to even months.

Both sharing frameworks work well in many US situations. Car sharing can actively supplement people’s need for occasional car travel, without actually owning a car. They also provide to those that usually cycle, walk or use transit, an additional transportation option.
In the case of the UK,  examples of such new innovations in mobility do not seem to be received in the same way.  In 2014 Car2Go had to withdraw from the UK market following a launch in both London and Birmingham. The company noted at the time that the scheme was not successful in part due to “UK’s strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership”.

However, car sharing in the UK seems to have  seen significant growth in the back to base market lately,  with memberships growth in London running at 20%  in the last year.   In addition, in recent months,  DriveNow (operated by BMW) has launched in London.  The key differentiator with Car2Go is a larger service area covering multiple adjacent boroughs (London is home to 33 separate local governments), as compared with  Car2Go, which operated only in a selection of individual boroughs in different parts of the city.

Time will tell as to whether the UK or the US are more progressive, and less reliant on privately owned vehicles.  Relayrides have yet to launch in the UK, although Easycarclub is  operating already peer to peer rentals nationwide.

Evidence from the Carplus Annual Member Survey (Carplus is the UK body which promotes car sharing in the UK), shows that car sharing members drive less, use public transit, walk and cycle more than average.  Also, in London the average car sharing vehicle removes six cars from the road, with car club members selling their own vehicles. In this ever changing world in which we're living, new models of urban mobility will continue to develop. The key will be for cities and authorities to engage with new opportunities to facilitate a wider range of travel options, and ultimately a less car dependent society.