A study of free-floating car sharing (FFCS) in 12 cities found that it is mainly used for shorter trips with a rental time of approximately 30 minutes. The study found that FFCS has the potential to contribute to low carbon mobility if the vehicles are electric and if usage does not displace active travel and public transport use.
Shared mobility includes sharing options from services in which the vehicle itself is shared such as car sharing, ride-hailing and carpooling. FFCS allows users to book a vehicle through their phone, use it and then return it anywhere within a designated area of a city. Vehicles in station-based car sharing are returned to the place where they
were picked-up. FFCS fees are per minute, while station-based car-sharing fees are per hour and distance travelled. This study examined travel time and usage patterns of FFCS vehicles among early adopters in 12 cities in Europe and the United States of America (USA), and whether electric vehicles (EV) in the fleet are used differently. For example, whether EVs are used for shorter trips compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
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Source: TRIMS, European Commission
