Carsharing

Conformity Policy: Air Quality Impact Assessment for Local Transportation Projects

Randall Guensler, Ph.D, Susan Shaheen, Ph.D, Francisca Mar, Cameron Y. Yee
1998

The Conformity Rule, adopted in November 1993, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the requirements of Section 17(c)(4) of the Clean Air Act, establishes strict procedures for determining conformity of transportation plans to state air quality management plans. Conformity requirements apply to all transportation plans, programs, and projects, funded or approved under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act. The Conformity Rule requires that transportation planning agencies apply transportation demand and emission models to demonstrate that transportation...

New Mobility: Using Technology and Partnerships To Create More Efficient, Equitable, and Environmentally Sound Transportation

Deborah Salon, Daniel Sperling, Susan Shaheen, PhD, and Daniel Sturges
1998

Land development and personal vehicle travel continue to outpace population growth. Efforts to manage this growth and the adverse impacts associated with it have been mostly ineffective. Promising technology solutions include telecommunications (telecommuting, electronic commerce, teleconferencing); small personal vehicles (electric bikes and neighborhood vehicles); and new “smart” transport modes (carsharing, “smart” paratransit). These technology-based options have the potential to be environmentally and economically superior to today’s car-dominated system. Yet each has its...

Identification and Prioritization of Environmentally Beneficial Intelligent Transportation Technologies: Modeling Effort

Susan Shaheen, Ph.D, Troy Young, Ph.D, Daniel Sperling, Ph.D, Daniel Jordan, Ph.D, Thomas Horan, Ph.D
1999

This report deals with a project that involved a review of the environmental impacts of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The final phase of the project involved the development of a model that would be capable of quantifying the short-term environmental impacts of ITS applications along a typical transportation corridor. The report presents a model database with the modifications necessary to manipulate the data into a form suitable for use with INTEGRATION V2.0. The authors describe the difficulties and challenges that were faced in the project, which ultimately led to the...

Pooled Cars

Susan Shaheen, PhD
1999

A condensed version of a previous paper, “A Short History of Carsharing in the 90s.” This paper provides an overview of North American, Asian, and European carsharing organizations and European innovations and advanced technologies. This paper also reflects on the lessons learned from international experiences. The author concludes with a list of conditions and recommendations for strategies that could be instrumental to carsharing success.

Carsharing: Niche Market or New Pathway?

Daniel Sperling and Susan Shaheen, PhD
1999

The premise of carsharing is simple. Households access, as needed, a fleet of shared-use vehicles. Individuals gain the benefit of private car use without the costs and responsibilities of ownership, and society gains large economic, environmental, and social benefits as a result of more efficient vehicle usage. But will these benefits be realized? The answer is unknown due to limited international experience and a virtual absence of credible analysis. It may be, however, that the more important benefits of carsharing are its indirect and unforeseen consequences. It may be that...

Dynamics in Behavioral Adaptation to a Transportation Innovation: A Case Study of Carlink–A Smart Carsharing System

Susan Shaheen, PhD
1999

Most trips in U.S. metropolitan regions are drive-alone car trips, an expensive and inefficient means of moving people. A more efficient system would allow drivers to share cars. Such a system is often less convenient for travelers, but convenience can be enhanced by deploying “smart” technologies in concert with shared-use vehicles and transit.

The motivation for this research is to determine how the use of information and communication technologies can enhance flexibility and mobility—and what value travelers will place on these new transportation means. My dissertation, using new...

Carlink: A Smart Carsharing System— A Study of Behavioral Adaptation

Susan A. Shaheen, Ph.D
2000

Most trips in U.S. metropolitan regions are drive-alone car trips, an expensive and inefficient transportation form. A more efficient, but often less convenient, system allows drivers to share cars. Carsharing organizations are becoming common throughout Europe and North America. Shared-use vehicles offer a modal alternative that can make metropolitan regions more livable.
A shared-use system aims to reduce traffic by reducing the number of cars needed by households and encouraging commuters to walk, bike, and use transit, at least for part of their trips. Further,...

Carlink – A Smart Carsharing System Field Test Report

Susan Shaheen, Ph.D., John Wright, David Dick, and Linda Novick
2000

Most trips in U.S. metropolitan regions are driven alone, which is costly to individuals and society and leads to congestion and air pollution. A more efficient, but less convenient system would allow drivers to share cars. A shared-use system aims to reduce traffic by reducing the number of cars needed by households and encouraging commuters to walk, bike, and use transit, at least for part of their trips. For commuters especially, shared-use vehicles could offer a low-cost, low-hassle alternative to private vehicles. Furthermore, carsharing could help air quality by incorporating...

CarLink Economics: An Empirically-Based Scenario Analysis

Susan Shaheen, PhD and Robert Uyeki
2000

Most cars carry one person and are used for less than one hour per day. A more economically rational approach would be to use vehicles more intensively. Carsharing, in which a group of people pay a subscription plus a per-use fee, is one such strategy. Smart carsharing employs advanced technology to facilitate tracking, billing, and system management. CarLink, a smart carsharing system, was deployed in the San Francisco Bay Area for ten months in 1999 to test this concept. This paper describes the CarLink economic data, and through scenario analysis, identifies several market...

The CarLink II Pilot Program: Examining the Viability of Transit-Based Carsharing

Susan Shaheen, PhD and John Wright
2001

The automobile is the dominant travel mode throughout the U.S., while transit accounts for less than four percent of market share. Between these principal modes, niche markets exist for other transportation services, such as transit feeder shuttles and carsharing. Commuter-based carsharing, in which individuals share a fleet of vehicles linked to transit, could potentially fill and expand one such niche, complement existing services, and develop into an economically viable transportation alternative. While most transit shuttles rely heavily upon governmental support, carsharing has...