Car sharing facilitated by mobile phone apps contributing to behavioural shift towards multi-modal.
Car sharing is said to reduce the number of private vehicle ownership but what is even more interesting is that car sharing encourages a behavioural shift towards multi-modal, complementing public and active forms of transport like cycling and walking. In several German cities car sharing systems, like DriveNow have been implemented which entail that cars can be found through a mobile app and can be parked anywhere within the city. In the case of Düsseldorf cars can even be taken from one city to another e.g. Cologne.
Having a car sharing system gives people the opportunity not to own a car and only use a car when needed e.g. for bigger supply trips. As people pay a fee for the usage of the car smaller trips tend to be undertaken with other transport modes which are less expensive. This way car sharing systems contribute to an increased multi-modal split and potentially to lesser cars in cities.
All photo rights reserved by Sandra Ohler
