Carsharing or car sharing (in the UK known as car clubs) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. They are attractive to customers who make only occasional use of a vehicle, as well as others who would like occasional access to a vehicle of a different type than they use day-to-day. The organization renting the cars may be a commercial business or the users may be organized as a democratically controlled company, public agency, cooperative, ad hoc grouping.
Today carsharing services are widely spread worldwide, with over a thousand cities globally where carsharing services are available. Existing services include Autolib', Avancar, Car2Go, Drivenow, Communauto, City Car Club, Greenwheels, Ibilek, Respiro, Stadtmobil, CityCarShare.org and Zipcar. In recent years car rental companies introduced their own car sharing services, including Hertz on Demand, WeCar by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Avis On Location by Avis, and U Car Share by U-Haul. In addition, car manufacturers have also recently introduced their own carsharing services, including Daimler's car2go, BMW's Drivenow and VW's Quicar.
As of November 2012, the company has 767,000 members and offers 11,000 vehicles throughout the North America and Europe, making Zipcar the world's leading carsharing network.
Carsharing contributes to sustainable transport because it is a less car intensive means of urban transport, and according to The Economist, carsharing can reduce car ownership at an estimated rate of one rental car replacing 15 owned vehicles.
Read more about Car Sharing: Terminology, Description, How It Works, History, Handicapped Accessibility, Innovations, Insurance
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