NO 78 :The Science of Car Sharing: Can Shared Vehicle Services Reduce Transportation Emissions?

The Science of Car Sharing: Can Shared Vehicle Services Reduce Transportation Emissions?

josh goldman, LEAD POLICY ANALYST, CLEAN VEHICLES | SEPTEMBER 2, 2016, 11:01 AM EDT

I’m a fan of car sharing services like Zipcar and car2go. Both offer instant access to vehicles that are scattered throughout my city, and car2go offers the unique benefit of being able to drop a vehicle off at any parking spot, even one with a meter. Using these services is super easy—but from my vantage point as someone concerned about emissions from transportation, they’re almost tooeasy.

I’ve frequently grabbed a car2go instead of using public transit, my bicycle, or my feet, and consequently burned more oil and created more emissions because I had access to an on-demand vehicle. Given that there are over a million car sharing subscribers, the rise of car sharing services raises the question of whether they are creating more emissions by increasing the number of vehicle trips and vehicle miles travelled (VMT) from each user. They may also decreaseemissions by alleviating the need to own a personal vehicle that users would otherwise drive more than a shared vehicle.

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