Car sharing may aid congestion
- Source: Global Times
- [08:22 August 27 2010]
- Comments
By Duan Wuning
The city will be the first in the country to introduce a car sharing rental system that will allow drivers to rent vehicles on an hourly basis, a move being touted at the Urban Best Practices Area inside the Expo Park as a measure to reduce traffic congestion on the roads.
The aim of the car sharing rental system is to allow drivers the flexibility of renting vehicles for shorter periods of time rather than the current one-day minimum imposed by car rental agencies around the country.
Niu Changsheng, founder of car rental agency Shanghai ShareIn Car, the company that will launch the car sharing rental system in the city next month, said that it will start as a small-scale project with five cars and two locations, one in Lujiazui and the other in Xujiahui.
"We want to see how the market reacts and gauge the needs of customers," he told the Global Times Thursday. "We will adjust future plans accordingly."
Customers will need to purchase a membership card by registering their ID and driver's license with the company. The cards will allow drivers to enter the rental cars with just a swipe, where they will use a code to start the engine.
Under the scheme, a Volkswagen Polo will run customers 25 yuan ($3.70) per hour, while the average market price of a one-day rental hovers around 200 yuan ($29.40).
Niu said the company is considering expanding the project to some 30 cars and five locations by the end of the year.
"If all goes well, we'll expand the program further," said Niu. "Hopefully, it will catch on and eventually lead people to make better transportation choices."
According to Michael Glotz-Richter, senior project manager for sustainable mobility for the German city of Bremen, a pioneer of the car sharing rental system, the move is gaining ground in the area of sustainable mobility in Western cities.
"We've been promoting the Bremen car sharing case in several cities since we first adopted it during the 1990s," he told the Global Times Thursday, adding that the city of 500,000 people now has 6,000 car sharing rental users.
