Title: The
Impact of Carsharing on Household Vehicle Holdings:
Publication Information: Transportation Research Record, 2010
Author(s): Elliot Martin, Susan Shaheen, and Jeffrey Lidicker
Document Date: March, 2010
Number of Pages: 18
Abstract:
Carsharing has grown considerably in
North America during the past decade and has flourished within metropolitan
regions across the United States and Canada. The result has been a new
transportation landscape, which offers urban residents an alternative to automobility
without car ownership. As carsharing has expanded, there has been a growing
demand to understand its environmental impacts. This paper presents the results
of a North American carsharing member survey (N = 6,281). The authors establish
a “before-and-after” analytical design with a focus on carsharing’s impacts on
household vehicle holdings and the aggregate vehicle population. The results
show that carsharing members reduce their vehicle holdings to a degree that is
statistically significant. The average vehicles per household of the sample
drops from 0.47 to 0.24. Most of this shift constitutes one-car households
becoming carless. The average fuel economy of carsharing vehicles used most
often by respondents is 10 miles per gallon (mpg) more efficient than the average
vehicle shed by respondents. The median age of vehicles shed by carsharing
households is 11 years, but the distribution covers a considerable range. An
aggregate analysis suggests that carsharing has taken between 90,000 to 130,000
vehicles off the road. This equates to 9 to 13 vehicles (including shed and
postponed auto purchases) for each carsharing vehicle.
Keywords:
Carsharing, North America, Household Vehicle Holdings