Carlink II: Research Approach and Early Findings

CarLink II is a commuter-based carsharing pilot project administered by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis) in conjunction with Caltrans, American Honda Motor Company, and Caltrain. Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) researchers are conducting the evaluation. Launched in Summer 2001, CarLink II continues the investigation of commuter-based carsharing that was originally explored in the 1998 CarLink longitudinal survey (Shaheen, 1999) and the 1999 CarLink I field test (Shaheen et al., 2000). Lessons learned during the CarLink I field test helped guide the project team’s design of the CarLink II project, resulting in several differences and improvements. The original CarLink I field test ran from January to November, 1999 and featured 54 individuals sharing 12 natural gas powered Honda Civics. The vehicles were based at the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Dublin/Pleasanton, the eastern terminus of the BART system. The shared cars were equipped with smart technologies including tracking, communication, and reservation systems to facilitate access and logistics. The model incorporated transit-based carsharing for traditional and reverse commute travel patterns, as well as a day-use fleet application, tested at a major employment centerthe Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).