World Carsharing in 2005: Overview

Carsharing in 2005: State of the World

Overview

The section of WorldCarShare.com is intended to provide an accurate picture of the state of carsharing world-wide in 2005.

The first two links to your left reports on our current understanding of the situation (cities, operators) as of Spring 20005.

This is enhanced by the very useful WC/S News Alerts section, which as you will see covers developments in a handful of languages (appropriate since carshare operators are local businesses which operate in their local environment.)

The section on Surveys covers both past and on-going surveys, both by colleauges for their own reasons and the WC/S 2004 survey that is breifly descibed below. A conditoni of all partifaptoin in surveys by WC/S is that the detailed results are made available to our members. As a matter of our philosophy of open society inittiaves and sharing.

WC/S 2004 Cooperative Survey

In June 2004 we launched a pair of low-key auto-surveys to see what it is they and you have to say about (a) the state of carsharing in your city and your own life from a user perspective, (b) that state of the art as seen from the vantage of the C/SOs, and more generally (c) about where we here in The Commons should be looking to be most useful to advance the carshare agenda over the remainder of this decade. There are thus two surveys in this little series: one covering users, the other C/S operators.

We consider this to be a valuable tool for everyone interested in making a success of carsharing. (Though until this date, 7 August, the response has been 'carshare lite'. Hmm.) For details on both, please click here:

2004 WC/S "State of Carsharing" Surveys

The results are intended to provide valuable updates and extensions of the information thus far available here, -- information that will be of use both to operators, the general public and, we much hope, to the public agencies that in our view should be taking a more aggressive role in supporting carshare operators as among the key players in the move toward more sustainable mobility and more sustainable cities.

Rural carsharing? Anyone home?

We would also draw your attention to a discussion which is just getting underway (Mid-June) about rural carsharing. This is until now an area to which only isolated attention ahs been given. Based on the first set of exchanges on this subject with our @Forum, it is starting to look like an area of transport policy and practice that should be getting a more attention since it just may be the rural carsharing is also an important sustainability tool.