Car sharing and car shedding across the life course: Lessons for sustainable mobility research and policy

Car sharing has not yet made its anticipated contribution to reducing private car ownership and use. Future car sharing systems must offer sufficient substitutability and flexibility to fit people's daily routines while also enabling continuous carlessness across the life course. Different European countries vary in their potential for car sharing to reduce the number of privately owned cars.Medium- to long-term reductions in private car ownership and use are key to any sustainability transformation of the transport and mobility sector. Shared mobility at different scales that meets the mobility needs of different social and life-stage groups can help reach this goal. Comparing data on current automobility practices in five European countries, this paper examines the potential of car sharing to reduce private car ownership through “car shedding” (i. e., giving up the private car) and suppression (preventing future purchases). While considerable potential exists, the impact of car sharing on ownership is limited without policies that recognise the significance of ownership and use across the life course and that present viable alternatives that can effectively delay or prevent ownership.