Car sharing Just Got More Interesting

Times are certainly changing, especially in the eyes of technology and you only need to take a brief look around to see that.  Everywhere we look there are new fan dangled devices that do this, that and the other, and one topic that is very hot in the press at the moment is autonomous vehicles.

Statistics suggest that in the USA alone there are approximately 1.8 vehicles owned per household.  Many people use their cars daily to commute, drop kids off, go shopping, etc.then, but some people hardly ever use theirs and ends up spending more time on the drive than out on the road.  Is this really a cost-effective mode of transport for those that hardly ever drive?  Probably not.

Recent studies carried out by transportation planner, Donna Chen, have been testing the possibility of introducing car sharing on a much larger scale than is used today and to merge it with the use of autonomous vehicles.  There are currently companies out there, like ZipCar, that offer a car sharing service where you can rent a vehicle by the hour, comes with insurance, and you can return it when you are done.  You have no upfront cost of purchasing a car, no maintenance costs, and can just use it as and when you need it.

What Chen would like to see happen is to transform this type of company and utilize the autonomous technology that is being made readily available.  By introducing autonomous cars into car sharing would be a great way for companies to make money, users to save money, and also help the environment too by making the most out of it.  The way she envisions it working is by using a smartphone app for people to literally call a car to come to them.  It would then take the passenger to their destination and would move on to the next person.  It would be similar to that of a taxi, but without the driver.

By introducing this method of car sharing and using reliable cars that could travel up to 200 miles per trip would save everyone a lot of time and money.  No longer would you need to struggle to find a parking space or remember to fill up as would all be done for you.  All you need to do is sit back and relax!

Source; The University of Virginia

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