Monday, May 18, 2009

Two views of carshare futures in Paris

Summary: The story behind this debate on how best to organize very large new network of electric cars and stations offering “one-way” service; and the other proposing instead to support and extend the existing system of carsharing services, of which there are presently five operators serving the city and developing their operations at steady growth rates.

Some useful references to fill out this story:

* “Common sense on next generation carsharing - Paris, London EV proposals”, World Streets, 19 March 2009 -
* PBS television interview – “From Bikeshare to carshare” -- of Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin, leader of the Greens, with his filmed commentary on the environmental and personal cost implications of the two approaches
* Map of current carshare locations in Paris (at end of this article)

Original French text. Machine translation follows:

Vœu relatif au développement de l’autopartage à Paris
DÉPOSÉ PAR DENIS BAUPIN ET LES ÉLUES DU GROUPE LES VERTS
L’autopartage est un dispositif déjà répandu à Paris qui propose un service d’abonnement permettant, généralement à partir de stations implantées dans des parking souterrains, de disposer ponctuellement de véhicules, pour de courtes ou moyennes durées.

Comme le souligne paris.fr : « l’autopartage devient une réelle alternative à la possession d’une voiture individuelle et fait partie des nouveaux outils pour modifier nos comportements de mobilité. »

Comme l’indique le Plan de Déplacements de Paris, l’autopartage permet de « favoriser le développement des nouveaux usages collectifs de la voiture », ce qui a amené la Ville de Paris à lancer le label « autopartage Paris » en février 2007. Cinq sociétés sont aujourd’hui labellisées par la Ville de Paris : Caisse Commune, Carbox, ConnectbyHertz, Mobizen et Okigo, et représentent un potentiel considérable d’abonnés parisiens et franciliens.

Par ailleurs, le maire de Paris a annoncé la création d’un dispositif de voiture en libre-service en 2010 : Autolib’, présenté comme l’adaptation à la voiture du concept de Vélib’.

Or, depuis l’annonce de la création du syndicat mixte Autolib’, de nombreuses critiques ont souligné la complexité technique et logistique d’un réseau censé mailler l’agglomération avec des véhicules électriques, qui sont loin d’être disponibles à une telle échelle et à cette échéance. De plus, le concept envisagé dit de « one way » engendre des déplacements techniques coûteux et polluants.
Considérant que des doutes sérieux existent sur la viabilité et la faisabilité d’Autolib’,

Considérant qu’en matière de mobilité durable, le nouveau contexte budgétaire des collectivités incite à donner la priorité à un dispositif éprouvé comme l’autopartage, qui permet un usage mutualisé de voitures individuelles, sans générer des déplacements inutiles comme Autolib’

Sur proposition de Denis Baupin et des éluEs du groupe « Les Verts », le conseil de Paris émet le voeu que :
Les moyens techniques, financiers et de communication de la Ville de Paris prévus pour le projet Autolib’ soient réorientés vers le développement de l’autopartage. A cet effet, une mission sera conduite pour étudier la meilleure façon pour la Ville d’appuyer le développement de l’autopartage (implantation de stations sur voirie, campagne de communication grand public...), s’intégrant dans un bouquet de service d’éco-mobilité.

Source : http://conseildeparis.lesverts.fr/article.php3?id_article=1615

* * *
On May 12, the following text was submitted by the Green Party for vote to the City Council of Paris. A machine translation is given just below.
Machine translation of above text:

Proposed amendment for development of carsharing in Paris

Promoting autopartage (carsharing) rather than the “Autolib” project . Following this filing and the discussions that followed, the deputy mayor
Denis Baupin was asked to remove this vow. The proposal was maintained (over the objections of the UMP and Center & Independent votes).

TABLED BY DENIS BAUPIN ELECTED AND THE GROUP OF THE GREENS

Carsharing is already widespread in Paris, presently offering subscription service which, generally from stations located in underground parking facilities, to provide a timely vehicle for short or medium terms.

As the site of the City of Paris puts it, http:// www.paris.fr : “Autopartage (carsharing) offers a real alternative to car ownership and is part of the new tools needed to modify our mobility
behavior. “

And as per the text of the Travel Plan de Paris (PDP - Plan de Déplacements de Paris): Autopartage promotes the development of new ways to use cars” which led the City of Paris to launch the “Label Autopartage Paris” in February 2007.

Five companies are now certified by the City of Paris to offer carshare services: Caisse Commune, Carbox, ConnectbyHertz, Mobizen and Okigo, and represent a considerable potential subscribers in both the City of Paris and the surrounding communities.

In addition, the mayor of Paris announced the creation of a new carshare service in 2010: Autolib ', presented by the mayor as the adaptation to the car of the concept of Vélib'.

Since the announcement of the creation of public/private Autolib operation', many critics have highlighted the technical and logistical complexity of a network intended to mesh with the urban electric vehicles, which are far from being available on such a scale and to this end. In addition, the envisaged concept called "one-way carsharing", a concept that leads to high cost services and increased pollution.

Whereas there are serious doubts on the viability and feasibility of Autolib ',

Considering that sustainable mobility, the new budget encourages communities to give priority to a device tested as autopartage, which allows shared use of cars, without generating unnecessary travel as Autolib '

On a proposal by Denis Baupin and elected the group "Les Verts", the Paris council recommends that:

The technical, financial and communication from the City of Paris currently allocated for the Autolib ' project are to be redirected to the development of proven carshare services. For this purpose, a mission will be conducted to study the best way for the City to support the development of autopartage (location of stations on streets, communication campaign ...), general public in an integrated package of eco-mobility services.

Map of carshare locations in Paris


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1 comment:

  1. Fascinating. Thanks for posting this Eric. I do agree with Baupin that the AutoLib vision has some serious drawbacks, which the above only skims. The problems as I see them:

    -- electric cars do complicate the system because they require charging time. I think this complexity can be understood and managed over time, but starting with a 100% all electric fleet is a high risk.

    -- people don't drive in the city because of parking costs and the difficulty of finding parking. It does appear that the one-way option is effectively make parking cheap/easier to find and will therefore increase the use of the car relative to other preferred (from the perspective of congestion) modes.

    -- we know from Velib that 25% of the bikes are moved daily to accommodate the mismatch between supply and demand with a trailer that can transport 20 bikes at a time. This cannot be done cost-effectively with cars.

    -- Users of Velib find comfortable and instantenous substitutes when a bicycle is not availabe when they expected on. If you really needed a car (because of children, baggage, disability, distance, location, time), the inability to predict or guarantee availability of one will reduce the projects success. The autolib vehicles will not be seen as a suitable substitute for an owned vehicle.

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