The concept of car sharing has long been hailed as a more efficient approach to urban driving. Having achieved success in Europe, it seems the idea is finally gathering momentum in North America too.
A growing number of North American cities are looking to leverage car share benefits by allowing high-rise condo developers to reduce their underground parking requirements if they commit to on-site spaces for commercial or non-profit car share companies.
The city of Toronto now appears likely to follow Seattle, Vancouver and San Francisco in moving to a system that specifies the maximum number of dedicated car-share vehicles inside apartment buildings. It also regulates a threshold for eliminating individually owned spaces.
According to a car share study published in March for Toronto, a 250 unit building with 16 car share vehicles in Seattle may eliminate up to 47 parking spaces. In Vancouver meanwhile, the same building could have four car-share vehicles and 12 fewer spots.
The likes of Zipcar, which has 275,000 members, is targeting university campuses and corporate customers; while Hertz has also made moves into the sector.
Support for car sharing has been growing for several years thanks to a number of key studies outlining its benefits. A 2006 survey for CommunAuto, a Quebec car-sharing organisation, found that each shared vehicle replaces eight individually owned cars with a 1,800 miles reduction in distance driven per year per member, as well as a 44 per cent reduction in fuel consumption. Indeed a 2003 study of San Francisco’s City Car Share Programme, found that two thirds of members deferred car purchases.
