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Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts of Carsharing in North America

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  • Martin, Elliot W
  • Shaheen, Susan A

Abstract

This paper evaluates the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts that result from individuals participating in carsharing organizations within North America. The authors con- ducted an online survey with members of major carsharing organizations and evaluated the change in annual household emissions (e.g., impact) of respondents that joined carsharing. The results show that a majority of households joining carsharing are increas- ing their emissions by gaining access to automobiles. However, individually, these increases are small. In contrast, the remaining households are decreasing their emissions by shedding vehicles and driving less. The collective emission reductions outweigh the collective emission increases, which implies that carsharing reduces GHG emissions as a whole. The results are reported in the form of an observed impact, which strictly evaluates the changes in emissions that physically occur, and a full impact, which also considers emissions that would have happened but were avoided due to carsharing. The mean observed impact is −0.58 t GHG/year per household, whereas the mean full impact is −0.84 t GHG/year per household. Both means are statistically significant. We present a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the robustness of the results and find that the overall results hold across a variety of assumptions. The average observed vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) per year was found to decline by 27%. We conclude with an evaluation of the annual aggregate impacts of carsharing based on current knowledge of the industry membership population.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin, Elliot W & Shaheen, Susan A, 2011. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts of Carsharing in North America," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt6wr90040, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt6wr90040
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shaheen, Susan & Sperling, Daniel & Wagner, Conrad, 1998. "Carsharing in Europe and North American: Past, Present, and Future," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4gx4m05b, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Martin, Elliot & Shaheen, Susan Alison & Lidicker, Jeffrey, 2010. "Carsharing’S Impact On Household Vehicle Holdings: Results From A North American Shared-Use Vehicle Survey," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt0850h6r5, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    3. Martin, Elliot & Shaheen, Susan Alison & Lidicker, Jeffrey, 2010. "Carsharing’S Impact On Household Vehicle Holdings: Results From A North American Shared-Use Vehicle Survey," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt0850h6r5, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    4. Martin, Elliot & Shaheen, Susan A & Lidicker, Jeffrey, 2010. "Carsharing's Impact on Household Vehicle Holdings: Resultsvfrom a North American Shared-Use Vehicle Survey," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt3bn9n6pq, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
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