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Car-Sharing: Where and How It Succeeds
with government agencies, universities, transit properties, employers, and
developers. Exhibit 5-1 summarizes the types of people who were inter-
viewed. Appendix C lists the names of these partner organizations.
Exhibit 5-1 Partner Survey Respondents and Interviewees
Survey Interview
Type of Partner Organization Respondents Respondents
City or county 14 27
Regional Agency 5 2
Public utility 1
State agency 2 1
Rideshare/TDM agency 6 1
University 7 9
Developer/Property manager 2 10
Community/Advocacy group 3
Religious institution 1
Employer 1 6
Transit Agency 11
Consultants to government & developers 2 2
Architect 1
Vehicle/Service provider* 1
Technology service provider* 1
Supermarket 1
Car-share operator* 1 3
TOTAL 49 72
* Note that since the survey was distributed to a wide variety of potential respondents, including via e-mail
listserves, not all of these organizations may be the types of partners that are the focus of this chapter.
However, their responses are included for the sake of completeness.
5.3 Summary of Survey Results
The survey respondents were about evenly divided between describing their
partnership with the car-sharing organization as formal or informal. About
half of the partner organizations who answered the survey said that the car-
sharing organization had initiated the partnership. The same number said
that staff at their own organization or another organization had initiated
the partnership. The majority reported that their overall understanding of
car-sharing, its impacts and economic viability had substantially improved
as a result of their participation in the partnership, compared to knowledge
they had about car-sharing before they entered into the partnership. Overall,
most respondents considered that they now have a good or excellent un-
derstanding of key aspects of car-sharing. Exhibits 5-2 and 5-3 summarize
these answers.
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5-3
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Chapter 5 · The Role of Partners
Exhibit 5-2 Who Initiates Car-Sharing Partnerships?
Organization Initiating Partnership Number %
Car-Sharing Operator 15 41%
Staff at Partner Organization 11 30%
Staff at Another Organization 4 11%
Community/Advocacy Group 1 3%
Elected Officials 0 0%
Other 3 8%
Don't Know 3 8%
Total 37* 100%
* Twelve organizations did not respond to this question.
Exhibit 5-3 Understanding of Car-Sharing Before and
After Partnership
Total
Responses Poor Moderate Good Excellent
How would you rate your understanding of...
How car-sharing works for example, what car-sharing is, and how it
operates?
Before the Partnership 38 13% 45% 34% 8%
Currently 42 0% 17% 31% 52%
Change -13% -28% -3% +44%
Where car-sharing is economically viable for example, judging the
neighborhoods in which car-sharing is likely to attract members?
Before the Partnership 38 32% 37% 29% 3%
Currently 42 7% 24% 43% 26%
Change -25% -13% +14% +24%
The impacts of car-sharing for example on vehicle ownership,
vehicle travel and air quality?
Before the Partnership 38 21% 50% 24% 5%
Currently 42 5% 17% 55% 24%
Change -16% -33% +31% +19%
Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Types of Support
The contributions of partner organizations that were surveyed have ranged
from limited--such as, marketing assistance--to substantial--such as, re-
duced parking requirements when a residential development incorporates
car-sharing. According to the literature search, most of the substantial con-
tributions have occurred in Europe, where car-sharing had its roots and is,
therefore, more well-established and understood. However, many of these
have been taken up and extended by partners in North America, albeit on
a more limited scale.
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Car-Sharing: Where and How It Succeeds
The assistance mentioned by partners in the survey can be broadly sum-
marized in the following categories:
· Marketing
· Administration
· Parking
· Financial contributions
· Memberships
· Planning, policy, and tax issues
· Transit integration
Sections 5.4 through 5.9 describe these categories in detail with extensive
examples culled from the survey, the literature search and the partner in-
terviews.
Attitudes Toward Subsidies of Car-Sharing
Seed money can be invaluable in conducting feasibility studies and helping
a car-sharing operation get up and running. More than 75% of partners who
answered the survey question said that it is appropriate for car-sharing or-
ganizations to receive start-up subsidies. Exhibit 5-4 illustrates the partners'
opinions about whether car-sharing organizations should receive subsidies,
be financially self-sufficient, or treated like any other contracted service.
Exhibit 5-4 Partners' Responses on Subsidizing Car-Sharing
35
Slightly
30 Strongly
25
Number of respondents
20
15
10
5
0
Agree Disagree Neither Agree Disagree Neither Agree Disagree Neither
It is appropriate for car-sharing Car-sharing organizations need to be Car-sharing should be procured and
operators to receive start-up financially self-sufficient, without treated like any other contracted
subsidies the need for public funding service
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Chapter 5 · The Role of Partners
Perceived Benefits
Survey respondents were asked, "In your opinion, how can car-sharing
help further the goals of your organization?" As shown in Exhibit 5-5,
most partners see multiple benefits on average, respondents selected more
than five options. However, when asked in a follow-up question to choose
which of the benefits was the most important for their organization, no clear
choice emerged.
Number of respondents
Exhibit 5-5 Benefits of Car-Sharing
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Reduces parking demand
Provides mobility options
Improves air quality
Reduces vehicle travel
Increases transit ridership
Provides more affordable transportation options
Supports our organization's environmental image
Provides a benefit or amenity for our employees
Provides a benefit or amenity for our tenants
Most important benefit
Helps secure development approvals
Benefit to our organization
Reduces our company/organization's vehicle fleet size
Other
Survey respondents considered, on balance, that car-sharing had been suc-
cessful in helping to achieve their most important goal. However, many
were not yet collecting hard data to support this belief. Chapter 7 discusses
the various approaches used by respondents to evaluate car-sharing's suc-
cess and makes recommendations on quantitative techniques to measure
performance.
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5-6
