[sustran] Re: Is Asia moving in the direction of restricting the use of private cars?

Chris Bradshaw hearth at ties.ottawa.on.ca
Wed Apr 4 09:43:57 JST 2012


Paul,

You have raised the point that cars used by one person at a time is 
fundamentally less worthy than several people using one simultaneously.  
I agree, but point out that with a set population of cars, demand will 
vary, making ridesharing more practical (and necessary if the 
car-population is limited) at peak-use periods, and /consecutive/ 
sharing at other times.  Yes, in that way, ridesharing is closer to 
transit than to carsharing/rental.

You also raise the point that owners of cars get a value of having a car 
available even though they use it only for just an hour-and-a-half a 
day.  But that is an expensive way to get car access.  Carsharers tend 
to save $500/month over ownership;  Even those who own a car can now 
share it through peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing, one of the ways of 
getting the service into suburbs where use patterns of shared cars will 
initially, at least, be lower.

You also mention the point that shared cars at workplaces are an 
important service that would make it more practical to commute by other 
means than an /owned/ car.  I have developed a 'hybrid' model with 
two-station shared cars being use for the two-way commute between a 
suburban neighbourhood and a suburban workcentre, both of which are much 
more isolated (from 'services') than downtown areas.  This makes it 
necessary to have the same vehicles used for both rideshare and carshare 
trips.

In the housing field, I have been an admirer of "co-housing," which 
specifically -- using your analogy -- provides in each housing unit only 
those rooms that will be used daily, while providing in a "great house" 
those rooms used infrequently: formal dining rooms, workshops, guest 
bedrooms.  If you look at the average car, it has space, power, braking, 
and many amenities that are not needed for /every/ trip: these can be 
dispensed with when carsharing, providing extras (in the form of larger, 
more powerful vehicles) only for the odd trip requiring them.  Why 
'carry' all that capability everywhere on every trip?

Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa

On 03/04/2012 7:16 PM, Paul Minett wrote:
> Chris
>
> I like your post, but have issue with the idea of MASC being both carsharing
> (rental by the hour) and ridesharing (more people per vehicle).  I agree
> that carsharing is a valuable component that supports ridesharing (a vehicle
> for mid-day errands for those who did not bring a car).  If we let MASC be
> about 'shared cars' (rental by the hour), then your hierarchy should have a
> sixth component: ridesharing.  Alternatively, change 'transit' to 'shared
> rides' being a combination of passengership on any vehicle.  I note that
> transit is a catch-all for buses and trains, but since one is road-based and
> the other is not, I think they should be separated in your hierarchy.
>
> For your interest, here is a great story about ridesharing from the BBC:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3134002.stm
>
> I also note that people get value from their investment in a car even if it
> is not being used.  It represents 'bottled convenience', and could be
> thought of in the same way as a spare room in the house, which is not used
> every day but is there for the times it is needed.  The return on investment
> is made up of a combination of the availability AND the use.
>
> Just some thoughts.  Happy to discuss further and hear your reactions.
>
> BTW, we are planning a 'Ridesharing Symposium' in Oakland CA for the 24th of
> May.  Any chance you could come along?
>
> Paul Minett
> Ridesharing Institute
> www.ridesharinginstitute.org
> 64 21 289 8444
> 64 9 524 9850
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> sustran-discuss-bounces+paulminett=tripconvergence.co.nz at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+paulminett=tripconvergence.co.nz at list.jca.ap
> c.org] On Behalf Of Chris Bradshaw
> Sent: Wednesday, 4 April 2012 3:02 a.m.
> To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Is Asia moving in the direction of restricting the
> use of private cars?
>
>   >  Guess who was the most vocal in calling for radical solutions: "we should
> not build more highways and we should control the number of cars", yes, it
> was the Assistant Minister for Environment from Indonesia. Change is in the
> air and we should cultivate it.
>
> And part of that change is to consider a "step four" in the process of
> municipalities' consciousness in getting it right re: urban transport.
>
> Rather than focus on the /use/ of cars, focus on their numbers in the city's
> population.  Cars are a problem, even when not on the road, especially if
> each car belongs to a single person who is motivated to get  value from
> his/her investment.  This suggests a different system of /access/ to cars.
>
> Asian cities are already laid compactly out to support the "sustainable
> transportation hierarchy": 1) walking, 2) cycling, 3) transit, 4) MASC
> (metered access to shared cars*), and 5) private cars (OPOCO, one-person,
> one-car orientation).  All that is needed is for access to cars that are not
> private, but are part of private or public fleets.
> The charges for access can automatically build in time-of-day surcharges
> that will automatically encourage their use for ridesharing at peak times,
> and each minute the car is on the road or even in a parking space, fees can
> be charged and collected electronically.  Ownership fees should also be
> introduced (as I believe several Asian countries/cities now do).  Cities
> should find it easy to look at its current infrastructure and determine what
> the maximum number of cars it can handle, and then set this as a limit in
> its planning documents.
>
> Besides MASC's ability to tackle the issues that "green car" agendas do not
> (road collisions, sprawl, congestion, obesity), it is especially good a
> tackling transporation inequity, a serious issue in emerging countries.
> MASC can provide measured access to cars to all members of society, rather
> than allowing car-ownership to set the access bar too high.
>
> Chris Bradshaw
> Ottawa, Canada
>
> * carsharing, taxis, car-rental, ridesharing
>
>
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