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Title:

Characteristics of Vehicle Owners Who Thrive in Peer-to-Peer Carsharing Schemes: Findings from Interviews with Participants in Portland, Oregon

Accession Number:

01623263

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

A major difference between peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing and previous models of carsharing is the role of the vehicle owner – an individual who is allowing their car to be used by stranger in exchange for a fee, rather than a (usually) private company. For P2P carsharing to succeed, car owners must have a positive experience and allow their car to be rented often enough so as to not discourage renters. In-depth interviews with 36 such vehicle owners in Portland, OR lend insight into the motivations for engaging in P2P carsharing, including who may be more or less likely to be frequent and enthusiastic participants. Two key factors determining level of rental activity were: (1) concern about potential damage to the vehicle, or conversely, the willingness to accept some wear associated with renting one’s car; and (2) the inability to manage without access to a car, or conversely, the ability to plan in advance one’s personal trips and scheduling around rentals. Findings also suggest that, for owners of vehicles rented frequently, P2P participation and forgoing use of their personal vehicle at times, allowed them to test and reinforce changes in behavior they already wanted to make, such as walking, bicycling and taking public transit more often. Past research has suggested that concerns about insurance and liability could be a primary deterrent and monetary gain could be a primary incentive for owners to participate in P2P carsharing. The authors did not find this to be the case among the owners interviewed. It may be that these factors are more important with regard to the decision of whether or not to initiate engagement in P2P carsharing, but became secondary considerations once engaged.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP020 Standing Committee on Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies.

Monograph Accession #:

01618707

Report/Paper Numbers:

17-00019

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

McNeil, Nathan
Dill, Jennifer

ORCID 0000-0001-5498-3928

Howland, Steven

Pagination:

12p

Publication Date:

2017

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

References; Tables

Geographic Terms:

Portland (Oregon)

Subject Areas:

Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-00019

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Dec 8 2016 9:55AM