[sustran] Re: Is carsharing irrelevant for the Global South?

Jains alok.priyanka at gmail.com
Thu Mar 25 20:33:12 JST 2010


Interesting point, Madhav.

I have recently moved to India after living for 15 years in Hong Kong and
enjoying a very good public transport system.

In my quest to live car-less (which I must admit is not very easy in
Mumbai), I am a regular user of rent-a-car system that you mention below.
They are usually quite reliable. With phone numbers of a few of such
providers stored in my phone, I have always managed to arrange one or the
other. Has it prevented me to purchase a car? So far, yes. But when one
looks at the public transport alternatives available, it is not very
difficult for anybody who can afford to get convinced to purchase a car and
use it regularly.

Regards
Alok Jain

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 3:57 PM, Madhav Pai <MPai at wri.org> wrote:

> A form of car sharing in India very prevalent.
>
> In most cities you can rent a car/with a driver (half day:4 hours), full
> day: 8-12 hours, few days even a few months). The cars are available in
> all sizes small sedans to mini vans. The rates are pretty much fixed
> across the country. It usually starts at 4 Hours, 40 Kms is 400 Rs (10
> USD) for a low small sedan.
>
> Car ownership may vary between from one car (owner/driver) to a few
> thousand cars.
> There is also an increasing number of fleet managers. That take these
> cars from individual owners/drivers, use technology elements (GPS
> tracking), call center etc and make them available to offices/companies.
>
>
> Would you call this car sharing?
>
> It would be interesting to study if the availability of these cars
> - prevent people from buying cars
> - do they end up buying smaller cars for city use and renting these
> bigger cars for long trips
> - what percentage of car use in our cities are these shared cars?
> - if one these large companies could transform themselves into
> membership based car sharing entities.
>
>
> Sincerely;
> Madhav Pai
> Technical Director
> EMBARQ - India
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+mpai=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+mpai <sustran-discuss-bounces%2Bmpai>=
> wri.org at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf
> Of Eric Britton
> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 2:05 PM
> To: Sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
> Subject: [sustran] Is carsharing irrelevant for the Global South?
>
> Is carsharing irrelevant for the Global South?
>
> Should be transportation planners and policymakers working in cities the
> developing world be taking the time to follow developments in other
> places so that they are fully informed about planning and policy matters
> as necessary for ensuring successful carsharing in their cities and
> countries.
>
> We think they should. We (I guess that means me, but not really since I
> know I am not alone in this)  firmly believe that carsharing is a
> practical transportation alternative that is relevant for  just about
> every place in the world where there are people who need to have access
> to cars (and vans and trucks). It is not only a proven low carbon way to
> have access to and use cars, but it makes economic sense for most
> people, and (when it works
> properly) is a lot more convenient to boot.
>
> So please keep up on carshare developments world wide and bear it in
> mind that carsharing is "the last nail in the coffin of old mobility".
>
> Eric Britton
>
> For the World Carshare Consortium at  <http://www.worldcarshare.com>
> www.worldcarshare.com
>
>
>
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>
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