Shared transport

Shared mobility is a specialized transportation system. It allows travelers to share a vehicle. Some people share a vehicle at the same time as a group. This is often called ride-sharing. Other people share a vehicle over time. They use it as a personal rental. This is known as carsharing or bike sharing. In these systems, users share the cost of the journey. Shared mobility acts as a hybrid. It sits between private vehicle use and mass public transport. It is an umbrella term for many different modes of travel. These include carpools, microtransit, and bicycle-sharing systems.

These systems function through various specific mechanisms. In carsharing, users access vehicles on an as-needed basis. They often pay based on their reservation time or miles driven. Bikesharing systems use a shared fleet of bicycles. These bikes are usually located within a specific spatial boundary. Most of these systems are concentrated in urban areas. The bikes or stations are often unattended. This allows them to be accessible at almost any time. This makes bikesharing an on-demand mobility option. Users can access the bikes whenever they need transportation.

There are several distinct types of shared transport. Bikesharing has three major categories. The first is public bikesharing. This can be docked, where bikes stay in stations. It can also be dockless, which is also called free floating. Dockless systems operate within a geo-fenced area. The second type is closed campus bikesharing. The third type is peer-to-peer, or P2P, bikesharing. Carsharing also has two main types. Roundtrip carsharing requires users to return the vehicle to its original location. One-way carsharing, or point-to-point, allows more flexibility. Members can pick up a car in one place and drop it off in another.

Shared mobility is part of the larger sharing economy. This economy involves online transactions of goods or services. It uses a peer-to-peer marketplace. Innovations in internet technologies helped this field grow. Location-based services and social networking were very important. While tech-enabled services are new, the concept is old. The first carsharing program began in 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. The first bikesharing program started in 1965 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. These early bikes were called "White Bikes." They were left unlocked for anyone to use.

Shared mobility has a significant impact on cities. It can improve transportation accessibility for many people. It can also reduce the need for personal vehicle ownership. In small cities, bikesharing fills gaps in public transit. It helps people reach existing bus lines more easily. In large cities, it can change how people use transit. A 2014 UC Berkeley study showed that bikesharing can remove riders from crowded bus systems. It can also decrease rail usage in large cities. However, half of surveyed members reduced their personal car use. This helps reduce driving and lowers energy consumption.

Specific numbers show the scale of these systems. By January 2017, North America had 39 carsharing organizations. These groups served 1.9 million members. They managed a collective fleet of 24,629 vehicles. In the United States, 99 cities had tech-enabled bike systems by April 2016. These systems included approximately 32,200 bikes and 3,400 stations. One study found that roundtrip carsharing reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 34% to 41%. This happens because households drive fewer miles. Reducing vehicle miles traveled is a major goal for many cities.

Shared mobility connects to many future technologies. It is a key strategy to fight the global climate emergency. It helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. Shared mobility uses vehicles more intensively. This is part of a future vision called CASE mobility. CASE stands for Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric mobility. This vision includes vehicle electrification and autonomous driving. These technologies work together with shared transport. They aim to create a more efficient way for the world to move.