[sustran] Review copy of short report + video on carsharing in China

[eric britton]

Dear sustainable friends,
 
Two weeks ago during a conference on share/transport in Changzhi China, in
which I was a distance participant and co-moderator, I ran into a
technological glitch in what we had hoped would be my closing remarks to the
meeting on a session devoted to exploring the eventual role that carsharing
might play in the sustainable transportation strategy in China.  You can see
an article that appeared in World Streets on the conference at
http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/changzhi-world-sharetransport-f
orum-opening-keynote-with-chinese-subtitles/.
 
Now why do I write  you about this today?  Well, since I was acting as
co-moderator of the session on eventual roles of carsharing in Chinese
cities, I took it very seriously that my last five or ten minutes to close
the session was going to be an opportunity for me to share my best
experience and thoughts on this with the conference, bearing in mind that
what I was trying to look for was the eventual overlaps between carsharing
-- past, present and future -- and the specific circumstances  found in
Chinese cities, where up until now carsharing has been an entirely dead
letter. I was very glad to have a significant audience of Chinese
administrators and politicians working on the issues of sustainable
transportation and sustainable cities with whom to share my experience.  As
a result, when the links crashed I was really quite disappointed, and
decided immediately that I would in the coming days see if I could remedy
this through a combination of a short report with a one-page "executive
summary" and an informal video giving me a chance to go before them what I
intended to set the conference.
 
This I have now done, albeit in almost final draft form, and I would like to
share my best draft against comments with any of you who might be interested
in putting our heads together on this in what I hope is an efficient and
possibly even interesting manner.  Once again, the idea is not to write a
book about carsharing, but rather to see if we can sort out in a handful of
pages some of the most important points and lessons that we think that our
Chinese college should be looking at as they decide whether or not this
particular sustainable transportation/mobility/Access strategy is going to
be something they should be pursuing.
 
So if you let me know that you are ready to share your critical comments and
suggestions on this, I will be pleased to send it along immediately.
 
Teamwork/Eric Britton
 
 
 
A World Streets Policy Brief

Closing moderator comments to Changzhi carshare session

 
Presented to the Changzhi World Forum on Share/Transport. 24 Oct. 2011
-  Eric Britton, World Streets and the New Mobility Partnerships, Paris.
 
As co-moderator of this session I was asked to provide a final summary to
close out this part of our forum, drawing on my experience in this field to
share with you my best critical thoughts as to if, how and when carsharing
might become  a real option for Chinese cities. Here it is.
 
Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you on this
important topic. Let me open with my final conclusion: The concept and the
reality of carsharing is going to be very much part of China's
transportation future, starting in cities but by no means stopping there.
There can be no doubt about it.
 
I have been  impressed by the presentations made this afternoon showing
carsharing as a 21st century share/transport option that works, and also by
the discussion on the part of several of the experts in the audience.
However, we have been looking here at what are some of the best-known and
most successful carsharing projects up to the present. These are working
well in various parts of the world today, so it makes perfect sense to give
the floor to them.  As a starting place in our discussions.
 
That said, it is my firm belief that the real future of carsharing in China
is not going to stop with those known, let's call them, Western models. I
except that you are going to look closely at them and then innovate and
bring in new forms that are better adapted to your cities and culture. And
for this you are in luck, because there is a whole new wave of innovation
currently going on and as a result transforming the face and potential of
this new way of getting around in the city. It will be an exciting process
for you.
 
To conclude, here are four hard-learned  lessons  about carsharing that are,
I very much hope, going to effect the future of car ownership and use in
Chinese cities.:
 
Fact 1.     Carsharing is not a new form of transportation. It has been
around for decades and is practiced  on a daily basis in more than one
thousand cities and communities in different parts of the world. This gives
you a very  firm base for your own future programs.
Fact 2.     You cannot get to sustainable transportation and sustainable
cities without it. (Time does not permit me to expand this as I should, so
for now I ask you to think about this.)
Fact 3.     The kind of carsharing that you will see taking shape in cities
and even rural areas across China are going to look very different from what
we are seeing in the OECD region .
Fact 4.     The key to a successful carshare program is the city and local
government.  However unto now, few cities have had a well thought out
program as to how to get the best mileage out of this new way to own and use
cars. This is a great opportunity for you. 
These are very cryptic statements and may surprise. So to round out this
discussions I have prepared some brainstorming notes in print form that I
will now submit to the organizers in the hope they will share them with you
in the days and weeks ahead. (And in Chinese of course)
 
[Full report follows.]
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