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Car-Sharing: Where and How It Succeeds
Other reasons for renting a car included:
· Ability to use the car at will no reservation process better avail-
ability at the last minute when I need a car
· Business trips out of town car-sharing is not available every-
where
· One-way long-distance trips
· Mode that costs less for that particular trip
· Vacations and long weekends can't book car-sharing cars for that
long
· Work-related trip and the company already has arrangements
with a rental car company.
These comments are highly consistent with the results of the focus groups,
in which respondents reported that renting cars made more sense for long
trips, one-way trips, and trips to other cities for business or vacation pur-
poses. But most car-sharing members disliked "the hassle of renting cars"
and would gladly use car-sharing for longer trips or one-way trips if these
options were available. Another compliment to car-sharing in contrast to
renting was "The cars are nice too. They're not your typical rental cars."
4.4Transportation Costs
Potential Impacts
While car-sharing has been cited as a way for households and businesses to
lower their transportation costs, it is difficult to generalize given different
expenditure and travel patterns. In the example shown in Exhibit 4-8, the
threshold below which car-sharing is cheaper is about 5,000 miles per year.
However, this threshold will vary considerably depending on:
· The degree to which travel patterns change e.g. if transit, walk-
ing or cycling substitutes for some trips previously made by auto-
mobile
· The fee structure of the car-sharing operator, and the overall level
of charges
· The proportion of driving costs accounted for by car-sharing, and
the degree to which rental cars and taxis are used where these
would be cheaper for a given trip
· The out-of-pocket costs of vehicle ownership, which may differ
markedly from the AAA estimates particularly if there are no car
payments or finance charges outstanding, or (in the other direc-
tion) if residents have to pay for parking
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Chapter 4 · Impacts of Car-Sharing
· The degree to which vehicle use can be shifted for example, if
the primary vehicle can be used more intensively in households
where car-sharing replaces a second car
Similar factors will affect potential savings from businesses that replace fleet
vehicles with a car-sharing membership. This is a more complex area, and
many organizations find it difficult to account for the total costs of manag-
ing vehicle fleets. Some organizations such as the cities of Philadelphia and
Berkeley calculate significant cost savings, and these are discussed in Section
5.5, Local Government, and Section 5.7, Employers and Businesses.
Empirical Evidence
The impacts of car-sharing on transportation costs have attracted little atten-
tion from researchers. There are, however, some exceptions. The first-year
evaluation of CarSharing Portland found that members estimated they saved
$154 per month in transportation costs. According to surveys of PhillyCar-
Share members, 40% say that car-sharing has saved them money, while
about 16% are choosing to spend more (Lane, 2005). Average savings, for
those who could quantify the amount, were $2,059 annually. Zipcar claims
an average of $435 in monthly savings from replacing vehicle ownership
with car-sharing, for those members that report a saving (Zipcar, 2005).
In general, it can be assumed that most households and businesses will
approach this decision in a rational, economic manner, and not substitute
car-sharing for vehicle ownership if it would increase their driving costs.
Many car-sharing operators provide web-based cost calculators to assist
members in making the comparison (Exhibit 4-3).
Results from the internet survey showed low levels of expenses on car-shar-
ing on a monthly basis: the average per month expenditure for car-shar-
ing was reported to be $61.26; the median was reported to be $40.50. The
minimum was $1.00 and the maximum reported was $500 per month. (We
assume that all of these costs were out-of-pocket costs and did not include
annualized membership fees or deposits.) Eighty-seven percent of respon-
dents paid for all costs themselves. Seven percent split the costs with their
employers; in 2.5% of all reports, the employer paid all costs, and a similar
number had some other arrangement (such as splitting costs with someone
else or writing off the costs as a business expense).
Some focus group members reported savings of $100 or more that they at-
tributed to using car-sharing instead of alternative modes. Other focus group
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