Towards a New Mobility Culture: Reclaiming Street Space in the City through Innovative Car-Sharing

Background Information

Cities are facing a number of transport-related challenges: limited oil supply, climate degradation and CO2 emission, air and noise pollution, as well as space consumption from roads and parking spaces.

An increasing level of car ownership jeopardizes quality of life in our cities. Many cities have reached a saturation point for cars. Innovative solutions are required to combine a high level of mobility for all with the requirements for good urban environmental quality. It is a common problem in densely built urban areas — where public space is at a premium – that any measure of greening and widening sidewalks for pedestrians is confronted with the possible trade-off of limiting space available for parking cars.

Innovative concepts need to exploit the availability of cars as a viable supplement to public transport – forming a bouquet of mobility options as an alternative to private car ownership.

The city of Bremen is implementing an integrated transport concept – including improvements in public transport and as well in cycling and walking. The additional element of car-sharing makes the bouquet complete by offering an alternative to car ownership.

The modern service of car-sharing gives access to cars without the need of owning one. With online booking and 24/7 call centers, decentralized stations, and smart-card based access to the fleet composed of various types of cars, the use of car-sharing is a good alternative to car ownership.

Bremen is well-known for its car-sharing strategies. Seeing the advantages of car-sharing for transport and urban development, a municipal Car-Sharing Action Plan was adopted in 2009, setting the target of quadrupling the car-sharing numbers by 2020 (to a level of 20,000 plus) and replacing 6,000 private cars.

The commercially operated service is a major instrument to reclaim street space for pedestrians and cyclists.

Goals of the Initiative

The city of Bremen (550,000 inhabitants) is well known for its ambitious strategies on transport and quality of life in the city. Given that sustainable mobility means more than just the use of clean fuels and cars, Bremen has improved its cycle infrastructure and public transport system (e.g. by extending the tram network to neighboring towns). Today, already about 60 percent of all trips of all Bremen citizens are done by the sustainable modes of walking, cycling, and collective transport — and will be further increased.

Car ownership predetermines mobility patterns — thus innovative alternatives are required. The dense urban public transport network and cycling options reduce the need for a car. The offer of a car just when it is really needed is the smart answer to car ownership.

The Bremen car-sharing operator Cambio has a variety of cars in their fleet, allowing you to choose the most appropriate vehicle for any given journey. Fuel and insurance costs are included in the rates, making the cost of every journey highly transparent. Car-sharing customers can book a car at any time of the day or night, in advance or on short notice, by phone, smartphone app, or through the internet. Car-sharing cars are located at reserved parking spots (stations) throughout the city. You simply return the car to the Car-sharing station when you’re done with it and are invoiced according to your use (time and mileage based).

Parties and Partners for the Initiative and Resources Used for Implementation

The operation of car-sharing in Bremen started in 1990 as a small-scale environmental initiative and evolved over the year to an environmentally committed self-sustaining business — under the brand “Cambio”.

The city of Bremen sets the framework for transport planning and urban development. It supports the car-sharing operation through:

•Allocation of street space for car-sharing stations

•Integration of car-sharing into new urban developments

•Integration of public transport and car-sharing

•Fleet management

•PR and raising awareness

Important partners in these strategies include public transport and taxi operators.

In Bremen, the collaboration between the public transport operator and the car-sharing operator Cambio has a long history: the offer of the joint public transport season ticket with car-sharing access – known as "Bremer Karte plus AutoCard" – was implemented in June 1998. This new offer and its PR campaign were given the OECD’s best award (for "environmentally sound transport") in 2000.

The resources used for implementing the initiative include:

The car-sharing operation in Bremen has reached a level of commercial operation — thus is self-sustaining. In order to enhance the growth and to increase its positive impact, the city of Bremen has put car-sharing as the focus for neighborhood parking strategies with some more cycle- and pedestrian-friendly re-designs of street spaces. The development of the intermodal car-sharing stations "mobil.punkt" was done by the city of Bremen.

Being selected as an "urban best practice" example for the World Exposition in Shanghai/China ("Better City – Better Life"), the city of Bremen organized presentations and thematic workshops in Shanghai.

The collaboration with public transport and taxis works on the base of sharing the responsibilities (each partner is covering its own costs – for mutual benefits).

Since 2010, more than €250,000 was invested in new car-sharing stations (mobil.punkt) and in promotional work. These stations are of high design quality, good accessibility, and well located to meet the needs of citizens in densely-populated areas. 

Innovation for the Initiative

Establishing a new mobility culture based on a principle of “use it – don’t own it” is definitely revolutionary.

At the same time, the car-sharing development as a market-based service happened through an evolutionary process.

The integration of new technologies and the political and strategic support through the municipal Car-Sharing Action Plan can be considered a revolutionary step forward.

The Bremen Car-Sharing Action Plan is the first of its kind and was also awarded the German Transport Planning Award 2010 and the Austrian VCÖ Mobility Award in 2011.

Because of its positive impact on both urban transport and on the quality of the urban environment, car-sharing has become a crucial part of urban transport strategies in Bremen. This involves the (private) operator Cambio, as well the city of Bremen and the public transport operator. Car-sharing goes beyond “traditional” transport strategies – the well-developed service of car-sharing offers an alternative to car-ownership. Bremen was the first city world-wide with a municipal action plan to enhance the development of car-sharing in the city. The politically adopted car-sharing strategy wants to achieve at least 20,000 active sharers by 2020 – replacing more than 6,000 cars from Bremen’s streets.

Main elements of the municipal support for car-sharing development are:

•Giving dedicated street space for car-sharing stations (mobil.punkt = mobility points)

•Promoting car-sharing for new urban development in order to reduce the need for providing parking spaces – which also reduces construction costs

•Enhancing joint offers of public transport and car-sharing

•Promoting car-sharing for a more efficient fleet management for companies and authorities (and giving a good example by doing so)

•Enhanced PR and awareness work

The car-sharing service in Bremen has developed to a size and at a growth rate that it is self-sustaining. The high quality of the service attracts more and more users, both private users and from the business sector (optimizing fleet management – thus reducing costs).

Bremen works intensely in international exchanges about innovative transport solutions. Bremen has transferred its car-sharing knowledge to other European projects. In a joint venture, car-sharing was successfully set-up in Belgium with direct involvement from public transport operators from the Bremen Cambio service.

In several presentations in Shanghai and Beijing, Bremen shared its insights and experiences with the program in order to support similar development in other regions around the world.

Bremen is recognized globally as a city for innovative transport concepts, having been awarded several times (e.g. 1998 est-best award for environmentally sustainable transport (est) from the OECD;  1998 “Project of the Month” award from the International Climate Alliance; 2005 “CIVITAS City of the Year” award handed out by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Jacques Barrot; 2008 award from the German Minister for Transport for innovative concepts to improve life quality in urban neighborhoods).

In 2010, the World Exhibition took place in Shanghai with the theme: “Better City – better Life”. There was an “Urban Best Practice Area” which presented selected concepts for sustainable urban development. The Bremen Car-Sharing Action Plan was selected as one of three world-wide examples in the field of sustainable mobility.

Car-sharing has huge potential in megacities worldwide to improve life quality, where reallocation of road space is even a much more urgent problem. Transferring the experience to a city like Shanghai, with about 20 million inhabitants, there is short-term potential (according to the current Bremen situation) for about 160,000 car-sharers. They estimate 2,000 stations could be available all over the city and the number of cars could be reduced by about 60,000 — replaced by the highly efficient service of car-sharing. In terms of space, this would free up a 300-kilometer row of parked cars!

This is an important option to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

Obstacles and Solutions for Innovation

The approach of "use it – don’t own it" is quite revolutionary in a country that is known for its motor-industry.

The car had a role not only as tool for transport but as well as a status symbol.

But car-sharing users started with a new perspective. The high quality level of the service convinced more and more users. It took a number of years and also intense awareness measures to achieve a sufficient level of information and acceptance.

Bremen was one of the very few municipalities seeing the potential and implementing measures to exploit the potential.

Meanwhile, even car manufacturers are starting to provide car-sharing services.

The car is going to lose its role as a status symbol among young urban people – smartphones and social networks are becoming more important. 

Outcomes and Assessments

Outcomes achieved are as follows:

Car-sharing has made positive impacts on the urban environment and provided good options for more efficient urban development. Car-sharing supplements public transport well. As joint, integrated offer, there is less need for space consuming parking.

In Bremen, car-sharing has reached about 8,000 users via Cambio. The fleet of about 200 car-sharing cars parked at 50 stations in the city has already replaced more than 1,500 private cars — but we see a much larger potential waiting to be exploited.

Bremen is one of the showcases of how the innovative service of car-sharing is offering a more intelligent solution to urban transport problems than building (expensive) underground parking. The urban environment wins if fewer cars are required to maintain a high level of personal mobility. The variety of car-sharing cars available allows for the choice of the most appropriate car for each trip, which usually leads to a downsizing of vehicles used — a step toward energy efficiency — and the pay-as-you-drive principle of Car-Sharing supports a change in mobility patterns towards more bike and public transport use locally, with rail serving for long-distance.

The city of Bremen has gained a world-wide reputation with its ambitious mobility plans. The image of Bremen shows how efficiency and environmental concern may merge to a high level of sustainability, the quality of life for its citizens and a good framework for business activities are part of that picture.

With the selection in a world-wide competition as "urban best practice" of the EXPO 2010, an independent jury (involving EXPO organizers, UN-Habitat representatives, and OECD members) was convinced of the contribution Bremen and its car-sharing strategies can make for the sustainable city worldwide.

Bremen became a symbol for a new mobility culture.

Assessments are as follows:

We see targets on two levels.

The major (and measurable) impacts of car-sharing are:

•Reducing the number of cars

•Initiating mobility patterns with less driving but more walking, cycling, and using public transport

With questionnaires we can follow the level of car-ownership before and after joining the car-sharing service. In Bremen, 43 percent of the users had a car before — a year later only 12 percent — so 30 percent of the new car-sharing customers gave up a car. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 cars were given up. By 2020 we expect to have about 6,000 cars to have been given up through car-sharing in Bremen.

Surveys also show a reduction in driven mileage and a shift towards cycling, public transport, and rail. Car-sharers drive less and use public transport and other sustainable modes more. According to a Swiss study, car-sharers reduce their CO2 emissions by 200-290 kg annually.

The overall level is related to parameters of urban mobility. Here we have as major parameters:

•The modal split (share of modes for all journeys of the citizens), where the sustainable modes (walking, cycling, and public transport) have a 60 percent share today. This share is to be further increased.

•The level of transport related emission is decreasing (air quality monitoring). A clean zone bans all diesel vehicles below Euro IV emission standards from entering the inner city.

•The number of trips by public transport is increasing. Especially the extension of the tram network and of regional light rail leads to more passengers.

Methods Applied

Car-sharing is not a stand-alone measure. It requires a well-functioning system of public transport, walking, and cycling.

In order to overcome the lack of awareness, provocative awareness raising measures were necessary (and taken).

With a municipal Car-Sharing Action Plan, Bremen developed the first municipal Car-Sharing development plan. Herein, the municipality works closely with the car-sharing operator, with public transport and other operators (e.g. taxi) as well as with housing companies and the Chamber of Commerce.

At the end of the day, the principle of "Use it – don’t own it" is going to be developed as a modern lifestyle element of an efficient and environmentally friendly city with a high level of quality of life.

Benefits to Other Cities

The quality of public space is a key indicator of the quality of the urban environment.

Congestion and parking problems are two examples for an imbalance between available space and the transport demand. As public space is limited, we have to develop and apply innovative solutions for more space efficient transport.

The car-sharing strategy has huge potential as it requires (in comparison to many other transport related measures) relatively small investment. But it requires a political commitment and a professional operator.

As all cities world-wide face a similar challenge related to the quality of public space and the over-abundance of parked cars, the Bremen strategy is a good example of a new principle. "Use it – don’t own it" is a symbol of a new mobility culture for a more efficient use of our public resources.