Car Sharing

Car sharing, is a model of car rental where the user rents the vehicle for short periods of time.

Implementation in Europe and Spain

The carsharing is poised to become a revolution in the whole panorama of mobility in cities and in one of the most dynamic and profitable sectors of the automotive industry. Hence its strong presence in countries like Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands or the United States (in 2010 exceeded half a million users with a reduction of 480 tons of greenhouse gases), and cities like Paris, Stuttgart and London.

In these places have emerged powerful companies like Zipcar has a fleet of 8,000 vehicles spread across USA, Canada and the UK, which offer a service that also joined automakers like General Motors, Ford, Daimler and BMW .

Some studies place by 2016 the number of carsharing users at 5.5 million in Europe and 4.5 in the United States. While the consultancy Frost & Sullivan reveals that by 2020 in the Old Continent will be more than 15 million people using this service.

In Spain its implementation is even lower, but its development is progressive. The companies offering the service available is wide carsharing (Connect by Hertz, RespiroMadrid, Bluemove). Most of them are moving locally, with a concentration in large cities, but also being imposed on smaller cities.

What is the Carsharing?
To write this article I have used the data published by Cetelem. Basically, the carsharing is a variant to the private car to get around town. It is presented as one of the main strategies to promote mobility in cities and reduce the number of vehicles, which will contribute to less pollution.

The carsharing is aimed at those who use the car in a timely manner or make less than 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year. Meets the needs of individuals who do not want to take on the expense to acquire a new vehicle insurance, taxes, fuel, maintenance, ITV, etc.

Positive effects

Reduction of emissions and fuel. There are fewer vehicles in the cities and they are newer and efficient. It is estimated that they can be removed from the tracks about 60 million cars.
Allows significant savings to our domestic economy, reduce travel expenses. According to the consulting-American Team Red U.S. mobility is achieved savings of between 115 and 325 euros per month.
Increased use of public transport or walk labicicleta.
Free space for citizens, each car that circulates city frees an area of ​​15 square meters.
Negatives

Distribution of the fleet. Your location should be the most appropriate, especially in parts of the city where the service is most demanded. The problem is the return to the same place where it was caught, restricting mobility.
No system has the immediacy of bicycles. Companies seek to streamline the process so that the client accesses as fast as possible to carsharing but has not yet matched the bike rental service.
Prices adjusted. At the moment there is a perception that it is more expensive than other forms of mobility: taxi, own vehicle, public transport.
Rooting the private car. It requires a change in mindset of citizens and government to opt for a different transport system.

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