Australia's urban motorists embrace shared cars much faster than many of the world's largest and most crowded urban areas.
New research finds that per capita car sharing is growing faster in Sydney and Melbourne than in major US cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, and Sydney is growing faster than all cities in the United States (including New York).
GoGet is the largest participant in the shared car industry, with nearly one hundred thousand members in five Australian capitals. Their analysis also found that shared car operators, such as itself and rival Hertz 24 / 7, reduced traffic congestion by removing more than 32000 cars from urban roads.
The industry is growing by about 20 percent a year, but has not yet had an impact on the number of registered vehicles in Australia, according to the Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Between 2012 and 2017, the number of registered vehicles in Australia increased by 1.36 million as a result of strong population growth.
However, the clock is ticking. Analysts predict that owning a car will no longer be necessary by 2025.
A key factor in the strength of the shared car business was "a high degree of urbanization in Australia," said GoGet chief executive (Tristan Sender).
"car sharing is scarce in parking spaces, and high-density areas with a wide range of travel options, such as public transport and walking, are particularly useful," he said. "Australians know how expensive parking spaces are. They seem ready to give them up-that's one of the reasons why Sydney's CBD is one of the world's largest car-sharing places. "
NRMA spokeswoman Page (Rebecca Page) said urbanisation in big cities will increase, and she expects car sharing to continue to grow.
"We know a lot of people living and working in the old city don't want to take the cost of driving and car-raising, plus the pain of looking for a permanent parking space, especially if you just drive every week, for example, to buy a dish.", she said.
But sharing cars is also not for everyone. Last year's NRMA study said car sharing was "limited in the peripheral suburbs," even though suburban households spend an average of 332 yuan a week on private cars. But commuting to work with a shared car is more expensive every day.
Nicole (Nicole Peters), 34, moved from Perth to Sydney six years ago to work in online marketing, using shared cars for both personal trips and business trips. "I bought a car when I moved in, but I soon realized it didn't work." She said she wouldn't be in a hurry to buy another car. "maybe sometime, but I want to be as environmentally friendly as possible."