Vancouver Sees Positive Benefits from Car Sharing

A recent study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley has good news for cities that have embraced car sharing. Bethany Lindsay reports in the Vancouver Sun that the researchers looked at the effects of the Car2Go car sharing service in five cities in North America, including San Diego, Vancouver, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Calgary. Users of the service who were surveyed by researchers reported fewer miles travelled by car which in turn has reduced the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere. The study also found that some users of the Car2Go service had either sold their personal vehicles or had decided not to buy a car in the first place.

Vancouver saw the largest overall impact on the number of private cars on the road, with an estimated reduction of 8,243 vehicles in 2015. For every Car2Go vehicle on Vancouver’s streets, about two members said they had sold their vehicles and another seven said they had postponed buying a car. Overall, the researchers estimate that Vancouver members reduced vehicle travel by as much as 60 million kilometres in a year, which may have prevented the release of 10,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

The research also found that a large number of Car2Go users had reduced their use of taxis and buses, however they hadn't reduced their use of SkyTrain or how often they walked or bicycled. The researchers said that previous studies on the use of ZipCar and Modo had found similar outcomes.