El debate de las cristologías

There has been signs of changes in society towards the sharing economy. Consumers are becoming comfortable with collaborative consumption and resource sharing (respondent CS7).

However, part of the automotive manufacturer’s strategy for car sharing is to make users accustomed to their brands so that in later stages in life, when people move away from the city centre and consider the acquisition of a private car, they will prioritise that brand (respondent CS1 and CS9). This attitude from car manufacturers suggests that they are trying business model innovation (Chesbrough 2010) and that car sharing is a transitional mobility option. Nonetheless, it is acknowledged by the sector actors that car sharing is a risky business (respondent CS1, CS7, CS8 and CS9). However, car users are captive to car ownership (respondent CS6). Together with lack of awareness, ownership is one of the key barriers for users towards car sharing. “It does not come into people’s mind that car sharing and car hire are alternatives to private ownership”

(respondent CS6). According to interviewees, consumers underestimate the real cost of motoring and the impact this may have in their household budget; “I don’t think they [the consumers] understand what the total impact of car ownership actually means” (respondent CS6). The highest cost of all, depreciation, is often underestimated and people are unaware of it because “they don’t see it disappearing from their bank accounts” (respondent CS1).

Contrastingly, a key driver towards car sharing is service cost (respondent CS2). TfL’s car club survey (Transport for London 2014) shows that, in order to appeal to those who are not car club members, the service would have to be cheap, convenient - with parking bays - and hubs being based near enough people’s homes for higher engagement. Parking allocation is one of the main barriers car clubs face from boroughs (Section 4.2.1.3). This is unlikely to change, unless boroughs are forced to. Also, potential users would need to see the benefits of the service, such as convenience and affordability before they switch to car sharing (respondent CS3).

There is a predetermination from consumers to own a car (respondent CS9). When faced with the dilemma of either owning a car or not, consumers seem to choose the first option; “thinking

140 about one specific use case” (respondent CS9), for example, the annual holiday or the occasional large item transport. The cost of car depreciation distorts the true cost of motoring, contributing further to the prevalence of ownership, despite a growth in demand for shared use services (respondent CS7), reflecting, in the UK, the low engagement of people with car sharing (respondent CS6).

The average annual miles driven by car per person is 6,648 miles (Department for Transport 2015). The cost/benefit of such lower average mileage travelled may be difficult to justify.

However, car sharing may not be suitable for every car driver (respondent CS1 and CS7).

Nonetheless, there is a potential untapped market for whom any form of car sharing solution is viable for personal transportation at a lower cost than car ownership. The problem may be the large availability of cars, new and used, for private use (respondent CS6). Nevertheless, as explained later (Section 4.2.6), car hire, and to a less extent car sharing, are partly responsible for flooding the second-hand market with relatively new, low mileage cars, bought from automotive manufacturers, in large quantities.

Many interviewees agree that there is no coincidence about the highest proportion of car sharing users in the UK being in London, as the cost of motoring in the UK’s capital is significantly higher than the rest of the country (Metz 2012). Population density, congestion charge, car parking availability and motoring overheads make car ownership expensive. However, despite London’s public transport reaching most urban areas and being quite often the best option for travel needs, car sharing may serve the purpose of journeys public transport or taxis cannot fulfil.

Outside of London, car ownership has been increasing (Figure 26). The regular costs of motoring and population density are comparatively lower. In many important cities, public transport fails to reach some districts and communities (respondent CS6). For these suburban and rural communities, private cars are a necessity, as they often provide access to basic services (respondent CS7). In order to be able to make a shift towards car sharing, the offer outside London needs to be more consistent (respondent CS7). This, however, needs to be approached with a realistic alternative to car ownership, where public transport is sufficiently developed and reliable (respondent CS6), reducing the need of a car for social activities (respondent CS1). Such

141 conditions are now happening in new housing developments in London and elsewhere in Europe (respondent CS2), creating the conditions for a car-less environment.

Nonetheless, opportunities to attract car users to car sharing, as part of a multi-modal transport system, may lie with millennials. This generation is relying on online social networks to socialise (Valentine and Powers 2013). As a largely connected generation which was brought up with computers and the internet, they are prolific users of smartphones and online apps. This may be seen as a cultural shift, coming from outside the transport domain (Sheller 2012). For example, Go-carshare and Liftshare have apps linked to social networks, such as Facebook, enabling people to book a car-share service via this platform (respondent CS2).

Figure 26. Car/Van per household per UK region, 1995-2009 (DfT 2012).

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