Government involvement is the single most important factor in establishing successful car-share operations.
That's the conclusion of Friso Metz, co-author of a forthcoming book on shared mobility, who says: "Without local policies, car-share providers don't get access to city streets. They can't do anything - that's the bottom line."
"It's a marriage," says Karina Tiekstra, CEO of MyWheels. "But if you have the same goals it's not a problem to work with them."
They were speaking at Shared Mobility Rocks today, an online 24-hour event taking in 12 sessions on shared transportation topics and case studies in 10 countries across the world, including Belgium, the US, Australia, Japan, Peru and Uganda.
The city of Ghent in Belgium had the target of 20,000 car-share users by 2020 - which has since been expanded to 25,000 by 2025. "It sounded good," said Filip Watteeuw, deputy mayor of the city, explaining how he decided on those targets. "I wanted people in Ghent to know our car-sharing policy was serious."
Speakers warned that, as well as 'carrots' to entice people to take up car-share, it was also important to use 'sticks' to make behaviour change more appealing.
Ghent, for instance, used a Circulation Plan to restrict traffic, as part of measures to push people towards other modes, such as bike, as well as car-share. "Before the parking plan, to park in Ghent was really cheap," Watteeuw explains. "It became more expensive so people began to think about their mobility behaviour."
"Don't forget the sticks!" warns Tiekstra (pictured below). "It has to be expensive and a hassle to own a car."
Shared Mobility Rocks continues until 4 March
