Carsharing

One-Way Electric Vehicle Carsharing in San Diego: An Exploration of the Behavioral Impacts of Pricing Incentives on Operational Efficiency

Susan Shaheen, PhD, Elliot Martin, PhD, and Apaar Bansal
2018

This project is a two-year evaluation of pricing/incentives applied to the one-way, all electric carsharing system operated by car2go in San Diego, CA. This system is the only electric vehicle-based, one-way carsharing system with instant access (i.e., accessible without reservation) operating in the U.S. The goal of this project is to work with car2go and the San Diego region to develop and evaluate pricing/incentive structures for their members, which improve system operational efficiency (vehicle redistribution, state-of-charge management, use of vehicles placed at public transit...

Shared-Use Vehicle Services for Sustainable Transportation: Carsharing, Bikesharing, and Personal Vehicle Sharing Across the Globe

Susan Shaheen, PhD
2012

This special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation highlights developments in shared-use vehicle research, in particular carsharing, public bikesharing, and personal vehicle sharing. Since the mid-1980s, shared-use vehicle services have gained momentum across the world. Developments include a range of operational models—private, non-profit, and governmental ventures; advanced technology; worldwide entry and growth; collaboration and competition; and increased activity by auto rental companies and automakers.

Peer-To-Peer (P2P) Carsharing: Exploring Public Perception and Market Characteristics in the San Francisco Bay Area

Ingrid Ballús-Armet
Susan Shaheen, PhD
Kelly Clonts
David Weinzimmer
2014

Peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing is an innovative approach to vehicle sharing in which vehicle owners temporarily rent their personal automobiles to others in their surrounding area. P2P carsharing belongs to the larger sharing economy, an economic model premised on the notion of collaborative consumption as opposed to ownership. This study examines current public perception of P2P carsharing and potential market characteristics through an intercept survey conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. Three hundred respondents from 14 locations in San Francisco (N=150) and Oakland (N=150) were...

Exploring Electric Vehicle Carsharing As A Mobility Option for Older Adults:A Case Study of A Senior Adult Community in The San Francisco Bay Area

Susan Shaheen, PhD
Lauren Cano
Madonna Camel
2015

By the year 2030, 57 million people will be over the age of 65 in the United States. Baby Boomers drive approximately 17% more than other age groups and are active well past retirement. This paper examines electric vehicle (EV) carsharing (short-term vehicle access) as a future alternative to vehicle ownership for older adults living on fixed incomes in a gated community to provide reduced cost mobility and eliminate vehicle maintenance hassles. The authors conducted a study of the response to the EV carsharing concept in a senior community in Northern California, between Winter 2009 and...

One-Way Carsharing's Evolution and Operator Perspectives from the Americas

Susan Shaheen, PhD
Nelson Chan
Helen Micheaux
2015

Classic roundtrip carsharing has been documented as a strategy to reduce car ownership and vehicle miles/kilometers traveled in urban areas. The expansion of carsharing and other forms of shared-use mobility have led to a growing interest in understanding the latest models. In recent years, one-way carsharing has gained momentum across the globe with 18 operators providing services in ten countries worldwide. One-way carsharing does not require its users to return the vehicle to the same location from which it was accessed (in contrast to roundtrip carsharing). Users typically pay by the...

Evolution of E-Mobility in Carsharing Business Models

Susan Shaheen, PhD
Nelson Chan
2014

Carsharing continues to grow worldwide as a powerful strategy to provide an alternative to solo driving. The viability of electric vehicles, or EVs, has been exam-ined in various carsharing business models. Moreover, new technologies have given rise to electromobility, or e-mobility, systems. This paper discusses the evolution of e-mobility in carsharing business models and the challenges and opportunities that EVs present to carsharing operators around the world. Operators are now anticipating in-creased EV proliferation into vehicle fleets over the next 5-10 years as technology,...

Generic time- and method-interdependencies of empirical impact-measurements: A generalizable model of adaptation-processes of carsharing-users' mobility-behavior over time

Jörg Firnkorn
Susan Shaheen, PhD
2016

The purpose of this article is to advance empirical sustainability-evaluations of carsharing-systems. Carsharing, a frequently cited example of a product–service system (PSS), is currently morphing from a niche into a mainstream mode of transportation. Carsharing has the potential to provide a more sustainable mobility-option compared to private car usage, for example by reducing the overall motor-vehicle traffic in cities. However, the quantification of this potential is complex, and few studies have analyzed the fundamental impacts of the chosen measurement-methodology on the results of...

Good Practices for Local Governments and Private Companies Driving Change Together in Urban Mobility: Lessons Learned from One-Way Carsharing

Clara Terrien
Rémi Maniak
Bo Chen
Susan Shaheen, PhD
2016

Transforming urban mobility requires integrating public with private services into a single transportation system. Local governments and private companies face the challenge of how to coordinate themselves. An emblematic example is one-way carsharing (shared use of a fleet of vehicles that are typically free-floating throughout an urban area). Surprisingly, good practices for public and private players driving this change remain relatively undocumented. This paper proposes a systematic and balanced public-private approach to foster transportation innovation management. We review both...

Exploring electric vehicle carsharing as a mobility option for older adults: A case study of a senior adult community in the San Francisco Bay Area

Susan Shaheen, PhD
Lauren Cano
Madonna Camel
2015

By the year 2030, 57 million people will be over the age of 65 in the United States. Baby boomers drive approximately 17% more than other age groups and are active well past retirement. This article examines electric vehicle (EV) carsharing (short-term vehicle access) as a future alternative to vehicle ownership for older adults living on fixed incomes in a gated community to provide reduced-cost mobility and eliminate vehicle maintenance hassles. The authors conducted a study of the response to the EV carsharing concept in a senior community in northern California, between winter...

Identification and Prioritization of Environmentally Beneficial Intelligent Transportation Technologies

Susan Shaheen, Ph.D, Troy Young, Ph.D, Daniel Sperling, Ph.D, Daniel Jordan, Ph.D, Thomas Horan, Ph.D
1998

This report presents a literature review on the energy and environmental impacts of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies, a presentation of the development of deployment/modeling scenarios, and a description of the modeling effort. The two-fold objective of this project was to: 1) identify those ITS technologies and systems that have positive environmental effects, and 2) rank order those technologies according to their energy and emission benefits and net reduction in VMT. The authors examine the policy context and regulatory arena in which ITS technologies are...