The future of the car in the city: Vol. 1., No. 1. Carsharing Policy Guide for local government

Dear Reader,

The future of the car in the city is morphing fast and is going to be very different from the suddenly long gone 20th century. But this we here are all well aware of. After all we have been swapping information and insights on these issues and challenging each other for more than a decade on a number of New Mobility fora.

Today we want to share some information with you on a new collaborative project that is just forming up, namely to create an expert  guide for mayors and local government specifically  in the field of carsharing.

Since August 1998 the World Carshare Consortium at http://worldcarshare.com/ served as a privileged focus for international exchanges and collaboration to advance the carshare agenda. At the same time we have been swapping information and ideas via our YahooGroups forum since 1998 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCarShare and more recently the supporting Facebook group site at http://www.facebook.com/groups/worldcarshare/.  In World Streets alone there are more than one hundred original articles on our topic from cities and countries across all continents (except thus far Africa) at http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/category/xcar-landscape/.

In all this we are working hard to get the particular attention of politicians and decision-makers around the world to make carsharing and these other new forms a more central part of the urban landscape. And we know you care since so many of you come here to read and at times to contribute. Almost two thousand of you in all, from more than 140 countries.

VOl. 1, No. 1. CARSHARING POLICY GUIDE FOR MAYORS

With these challenges in view we are in the process of creating a new series of concise guides aimed directly at informing mayors and local government, each treating a single priority new mobility measure or strategy concerning which they need to have an authoritative easy to access strategic policy guide.

The goal of the series is to commission and publish authoritative, readable short books written by leading international authorities offering new thinking and practical decision guides for government on specific new mobility measures for improving transport, environment, equity and the economy of their cities. The modest objective is to have something so good, so cheap, so easy to get your hands on, that it can be acquired by every city hall on the planet.

And one of the first of these books due for 2013 is a policy guide for carsharing.

Oh yes, we are aware of course that there are hundreds of titles out there on carsharing, from nearly as many angles. And that is a very good thing (though to tell the truth many of them are pretty weak). However in our case in the year ahead, our guide will be aimed directly at presenting concise information in the appropriate form which can help our mayors and other city leaders take the right decisions for their cities. One topic, one audience. Again, you will see how this works at http://goo.gl/4OQMY.

This is going to be a lively collaborative project and our plan leaves plenty of room for contributions from our readers and others who are involved in advancing the state of understanding and practice. We have yet to name the principal collaborators of the carshare volume, so if you have any thoughts on this, have a look at the attached and let us hear from you. You will be kept informed of progress in these pages as the book project moves ahead.

Financing the project

We need your help to move ahead on this and would like to ask you to help share even a small part of the burden. I would like to ask you, personally, eye to eye, to reach into your pocket and make whatever contribution you are able to make that will permit us to continue to make our contributions in the year ahead. (If you want some guidance as to the amount that might be most appropriate, click http://goo.gl/qL4Du for a brief explanation -.)

We have tried to make this as easily and quick as possible for you. Here is how to transfer funds today to support our work in 2013.

1. To make an immediate contribution via PayPal or credit card:

•  For US Dollar contributions, CLICK HERE.


• *For donations in Euros, CLICK HERE.

2. For direct bank wire transfers:

Account Holder: Association EcoPlan International
Account no. 00010465401
Crédit Industriel et Commercial de Paris.
Succursale BR (Montparnasse)
202 Blvd. Raspail / 75014 Paris, France
SWIFT: CMCIFRPP
IBAN : FR76 3006 6106 2100 0104 6540 105

3. Or if you prefer, send a check to:

Association EcoPlan International
9, rue Gabillot. F69003 Lyon, France

Other forms of collaboration with project

Yes, it is critical that we find a way to finance the project, and perhaps you will have some ideas for us.  If we had our way each volume would be financed by an informal grouping of cities, public agencies and private sector groups directly concerned with these issues.

But we need a place to start, wo if you have contacts for us, be sure that we will follow up on them immediately.

And if you wish to get involved in the content and presentation of the final book, please note that we have an informal editorial committee of experts with strong backgrounds in the field, who are volunteering to periodically receive  important draft sections and to comment on them.

Let us know. Together we can do wonderful things!

Thank you.

Eric Britton

* Latest background on the WSE program available here 

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