CARLINK ECONOMICS:AN EMPIRICALLY-BASED SCENARIO ANALYSIS

摘要

Most cars carry one person and are used for less than one hour per day. A moreeconomically rational approach would be to use vehicles more intensively. Carsharing, inwhich individuals share a fleet of vehicles, is one such strategy. Smart carsharingemploys advanced technologies to facilitate tracking, billing, and system management.CarLink, a smart carsharing system, was deployed in the San Francisco Bay Area for tenmonths in 1999 to test this concept. This paper describes the CarLink economic data, andthrough scenario analysis, identifies several market conditions in which carsharing couldbecome more economically viable. Our study found that CarLink could be sustainablewhen there is strong cooperation with local businesses, higher user fees are generated,and technology and management costs are lowered.