2. A Short History of Carsharing in the 90's

Editor’s note: This is one of several recent useful overviews of international carsharing experience over the last decade. We have chosen to open the report with this particular summary since it provides a competent introduction to the more detailed materials that follow. For more extensive treatment and analysis from other, at times somewhat broader perspectives, the reader is referred to the careful Harms and Truffer 1998 report: “The Emergence of a Nationwide Carsharing Co-operative in Switzerland: A Case Study for the Project -Strategic Niche Management as a Tool for Transition to a Sustainable Transportation System. (EAWAG—Eidg. Anstalt fur Wasserversorgung und Gewasserschutz); and Graham Lightfoot,’s 1997 survey, “Pay As You Drive Carsharing Final Report. EUSAVE” Both of these reports can be downloaded from the @CarShare Consortium site. It also can be usefully read and weighed against the ideas set put by Steven Cousins in the immediately following piece. A number of the projects mentioned here are in fact covered in detail in the body of the report, in most cases by people who have been directly involved in making them work.