Developing a Model for Car Sharing Potential in Twin Cities Neighborhoods

To evaluate neighborhoods in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota for their amenability to car sharing, a study of the market and use of car sharing programs in the United States was conducted through interviews with managers of car sharing programs, focus groups of users of car sharing programs and an analysis of comparable neighborhoods where car sharing has been successful. Data from this research reflects previous studies, confirming that the following factors of neighborhoods appear to affect the success of a car-sharing program: a high density of individuals aged 21-39, a high proportion of residents commuting by transit or walking, and a high proportion of renters, non-family households and single-person households. In addition, parking appears to be a factor that should also be considered, and perhaps leveraged as an incentive to gain membership. Finally, criteria for selecting appropriate neighborhoods in a city without a car sharing service like the Twin Cities are proposed. TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM Paper revised from original submittal.