Car Sharing
Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit
A respondent to last week’s blog, Interesting Numbers, suggested some transit modes that they felt were overlooked by the transit industry. These included taxis, ride-sharing, and car-sharing.
Most of these aren’t likely as overlooked as one would think.
I know of at least one agency that controls taxi service in its area, and I am sure there are far more than that. I’ve gotten the impression that taxis aren’t seen as part of the larger public transit picture, but if you think about it, they all have at minimum two people in every car. We don’t require any less on most of our HOV lanes, so why shouldn’t they be considered part of transit?
Ride-sharing (or carpooling) was a growing part of the transit picture, even without the recent increase in gas prices. Vanpools are also growing. CATS in Charlotte has a fleet of vanpool vehicles that have proven very successful for the agency. That’s just one example. The Rapid in Grand Rapids, Mich. is another. Their RapidVan vanpool service (see our June 2007 story on this) has been a tremendous asset to that agency for years.
Car-sharing, though, intrigued me. There was a recent story about the U.S. House of Representatives trying out a car-sharing program. The program currently consists of four cars (three hybrids), but it is being monitored and I am sure popularity will spark growth. This got me to thinking about the whole car-sharing prospect.
My associate editor just told me she may need to work from home one day this week because she needs new tires on her car and her carpool isn’t running this week since everyone is at one convention or the other.
I thought about this and I thought about how many cars sit in parking lots all day doing nothing. Heck, my car spends most weekends sitting in my driveway.
This got me to wondering just how many of us really have a need for cars on a 24/7 basis. I would hazard a guess that most two-car families probably only really need one. The other is a work car. One person uses that car to go to and from work during the week and it sits in a driveway, parking lot or on a street otherwise.
Having a car available when we need it gives tremendous peace of mind, but how much of that could be leveraged if you knew that there would usually be a car available when you need it at a local parking lot?
With the increased number of people being able to work from home via Internet connections, not having a car isn’t the end of the world it used to be.
Maybe that’s the new slogan transit should pitch: “Get Rid of Your Car. It’s Won’t Be the End of the World.”
Thanks for reading the MT Position, updated every Friday.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:05 am
With Wi-Fi growing in many cities, transit agencies could leverage that technology by parterning with taxi operators. A perfect application is “after hours” transport where someone stays late to work, see a show, visit a relative in a hospital etc. That person arrived on transit, but can’t get home because bus or rail service has ended.
A participating taxicab comes to the resuce by accepting the stranded transit patron’s fare medium—i.e. a stored value swipe card, monthly pass, or standard charge card. Wi-Fi can validate the transaction. The cab driver can hand-write a receipt or print with a portable printer.
It’s a win-win-win. Transit keeps a patron because the rider knows he or she won’t miss a ride. Taxis get more fares. Patrons don’t have to carry wads of cash.
Also, this would be a boon to welfare-to-work people who too often are shut out of employment opportunities due to lack of transit to major employment centers. In addition, these employees can miss overtime opportunities because they have to catch the last bus home. Not anymore, if an intermodal Wi_Fi-driven system were in place.
Obviously, there are significant infrastructure and business details that need to be in place before the process can start; but I am confident that open-mindedness in transit executives, taxi operators, and local policymakers can make it happen.
November 4th, 2007 at 12:04 am
I’ve seen this done in Europe. In Stuttgart, they have it on the transit schedule that taxi service is availible after hours. In Amsterdam, taxis are allowed to run upon the streetcar right of way when service ends.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:10 am
First, thank you Fred on following-up on this issue and featuring car-sharing in this post.
Although there are individual transit agencies that include ride-sharing, car-sharing and using taxis in their mix of services, they are often used (or justified) as ancillary support services to fixed route operations. The irony is that these services, if well funded, marketed and coordinated, could benefit many more Americans than who can realistically use fixed-route services in their communities.(1)
New mobility services are “force multipliers” for public transportation. Increasing ride-sharing, car-sharing, and taxis use private assets to increase community mobility. The public transit agency will likely gain ridership the more integrated the mix of mobility services. A common smartcard to pay for rides from all operators is ideal. Using a 511 information system (phone number, website, trip planner and trip reservation system) is also practical. These concepts are scalable for rural to large urban systems. I do not under estimate the challenges to developing integrated mobility, but the potential pay-off in terms increasing affordable mobility choices for the public should provide economic (and political) benefits for innovators.
I have three questions:
1. Does your organization’s strategic vision for public transportation include new mobility services?(2) If yes, are they of primary or secondary importance?
2. Are you using planning processes (e.g. the Coordinated Public Transit - Human Service Transportation plan, transit development plan, or a MPO’s long range transportation plan) to develop an integrated community mobility strategy?
3. Are you developing mobility management projects to implement new services? (For FTA Section 5311 subrecipients, will your state DOT approve mobility management projects as 5311 capital projects?)
Finally, since we are in a time of crisis (climate change-peak oil-congestion), there is opportunity for leadership at all levels. There should be a compelling sense of urgency and need for action. What do you see from your vantage point?
1. Except for New York City.
2. Google or wikipedia “New Mobility” for definitions.