With so many different forms of shared mobility available globally today, it’s interesting to discover how one development, like the installation of a bike share program, can support another form like a car share program and together create a more convenient lifestyle for urban-dwellers. We’ve recently come across three pieces of news that perfectly outline how different forms of shared mobility support one another, add an additional convenience to taking public transit, and work together as a whole to create a more seamless urban landscape, which we’ve outlined for you below.
Bike Sharing Supporting Car Sharing
Recently announced in Boston, Zipcar has partnered with Zagster – a leader in college campus bike sharing – to launch Zipbike. Zipbike will be the first national sponsored bike share program for universities and colleges across the United States. As stated in the announcement press release: “The combination of Zipcar and Zipbike on campuses will reduce congestion and parking demand by providing members access to both on and off campus transportation.”
To make the combination of Zipcar and Zipbike seamless, Zipcar plans to launch at all universities and colleges where Zipbike will be available and they have not yet launched. Overcoming cost as the single biggest hurdle for students, the combination of Zipcar and Zipbike will provide a convenient and affordable alternative to rapid transit and personal car ownership.
Read more about the launch of Zipbike here.
Transit Supporting Car Sharing
In Metro Vancouver, Canada, a new public transit line creates an opportunity for the city’s existing car-share programs, Modo and ZipCar, to expand its reach to a new area entirely that is now serviced by the new Evergreen Line. With the availability of rapid transit to sustain the majority of longer trips and commutes for residents of Port Moody and Coquitlam, car sharing programs provide the missing link as a level of convenience and alternative transportation when public transit isn’t the solution.
As the Marketing Director of Modo puts car share combined with public transit, “It’s for anybody that’s interested in reducing their costs without compromising the convenience of having access to a car.”
Read more about the car share expansion into Coquitlam, BC here.
Forms of Shared Mobility Working Together
The non-profit Shared Use Mobility Center recently launched a plan for expanded transit, bike-share, car-share and ride-hailing programs in L.A. County, allowing allow forms of shared mobility to truly work together. The plan predicts a reduction in private cars by 100,000 over five years. The plan sets out significant increases in all forms of shared mobility, including transit ridership (34,000 new riders), bike-share (10,000 new bike-share bikes), car-share (8,400 new car-share vehicles) and carpooling/ride-splitting (16,800 new riders.)
We believe each of these developments, all in different geographical regions, can improve the mobility of the urban landscapes with simplicity, reliability, and integration of services as we previously outlined in this blog post.
Read more about the suggested improvements of each shared mobility service here.
Interested in discussing how different forms of shared mobility can work together? Contact us here to find out more.
