TEPR Projects: Car clubs and mobility services

The discussion about ‘mobility services’ or ‘mobility as a service’ refers to a potentially different approach to mobility. Instead of buying vehicles, people would buy mobility and use the most appropriate means to get to where they want to be. To some extent, public transport is already part of such a framework; car clubs (or ‘car sharing’) and public bike sharing schemes are additional elements that facilitate journeys that might not be possible with public transport.

Car clubs have potential environmental benefits, as vehicles are used more intensively, while individual who are members of car clubs tend to use cars less than those who own their own vehicle. Car clubs also provide flexibility to car-owning households and reduce the need for parking spaces.

Ian Skinner and TEPR Associate Malcolm Fergusson have undertaken research on mobility services and car sharing, funded by the Volvo Foundation, which included:

• Mobility Services: Setting the policy framework, which involved a literature review on the potential types of mobility services and the role of different stakeholders.
• Car Sharing: The Motivations of Industry.
• The Marketing of Mobility Services.

In 2014, Malcolm Fergusson produced a report for ZipCar UK, which set out the potential role of car clubs in reducing congestion in London, and made recommendations as to how to bring this about.