Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qiu, J. L., & Sey, A. (2007). Mobile communication and society: A global perspective. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. This theoretically hybrid, statistically sig...

Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective

This article considers the business strategy of an automaker entering the car-sharing market. Given the high growth of the car-sharing industry, this could become a new business segment and simultaneously have effects on branding. The considered case is a car-sharing system called car2go, which was launched by Daimler in 2009. An empirical analysis based on primary data (N = 1881) indicates that private vehicles are reduced as a consumer reaction. This constitutes a potential for environmental gains, as shared and consecutively used cars require less of production resources compared to a higher number of private cars being bought, driven and parked individually. Implications for public policy are that the allocation of public space to car-sharing systems could result in a net gain of space in cities. Policy makers should also consider the dependency of car-sharing schemes on municipal support regarding parking spaces and they should anticipate the upcoming electrification. This is the first study on a large-scale car-sharing system operated by an automaker using retrospective primary data. It contributes to the assessment of the current trend of car manufacturers launching car-sharing schemes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Selling Mobility instead of Cars: New Business Strategies of Automakers and the Impact on Private Vehicle Holding

Characteristics of users and usage of station-based car-sharing services have been discussed in various studies. First analyses of the free-floating car-sharing model DriveNow have shown that member composition and patterns of use are not very different from those of station-based car-sharing schemes. Nevertheless, free-floating car-sharing members were drawn from a new pool of travellers, they were not attracted by existing station-based car-sharing schemes. This paper goes beyond these analyses and looks not only at the usage of car-sharing services but at the overall travel behaviour of free-floating car-sharing members (FFCS). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the specifics of this travel behaviour have been analysed based on substantial data that was collected specifically for this purpose with an innovative survey design based on a GPS tracking smartphone application. The goal of this study is to contrast the core group of members of the free-floating car-sharing model DriveNow (male, 25-45 years old) with people who do not use car-sharing. Key travel indicators are compared for FFCS and non-car-sharers (NCS) with a special emphasis on type and extend of multimodal travel behaviour within those two groups. The results show higher trip frequency for FFCS and differences in mode choice pattern. FFCS are more intermodal and multimodal in their behaviour. Shares of cycling are significantly higher, shares of private car trips are significantly lower for FFCS compared to NCS. The insights gained in this study can help cities and car-sharing operators to develop framework conditions and services that optimally integrate free-floating car-sharing services into the overall urban transport systems.

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Do sharing people behave differently? An empirical evaluation of the distinctive mobility patterns of free-floating car-sharing members

Carsharing, currently growing strongly in Germany, is an important instrument for sustainable urban mobility. The present boom is mainly due to so-called “free-floating carsharing”. Whilst the environmental effects of station-based carsharing have been intensively studied in the German-speaking context, to date there have been hardly any empirical findings on the effect of free-floating carsharing. Using the example of DriveNow and Flinkster in Berlin and Munich, this article examines to what extent free-floating carsharing leads to a reduction of car ownership compared to station-based carsharing. Based on online surveys (n=819/227) carried out within the “WiMobil” project (9/2012 – 10/2015), descriptive analyses and two binary logistic regressions were performed. The findings show that station-based and free-floating carsharing leads to a reduction of private cars but to different degrees (DriveNow 7%; Flinkster 15%). The shedding of cars is influenced by the frequency of use of carsharing and the increasing membership of station-based carsharing providers. Furthermore, for many people of both systems carsharing is an important reason not to buy a car. But there is also a significant proportion of people planning a car purchase. This is true especially for car-savvy persons for whom car ownership is very important. Thus, carsharing can be an important factor for sustainable urban mobility. In order to maximize the positive effects of carsharing, it is of central importance to reach additional user groups such as women and elderly people with private car ownership.

The Impact of Carsharing on Car Ownership in German Cities

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a relatively recent addition to the agenda in Germany, although the country has a long history of companies practicing social responsibilities. The expectations of society had remained stable for many years, encapsulated in laws, societal norms, and industrial relations agreements. But the past decade has seen significant changes in Germany, challenging established ways of treating the role of business in society. This contribution reviews and illustrates the development of diverse forms of social responsibility in German corporations and analyzes how actors in business and society can build on traditional strengths to find new institutional arrangements for sharing tasks and responsibilities in the interests of achieving a better balance between societal, economic, and environmental needs.

/pdf/re-discovering-the-social-responsibility-of-business-in-37tsaun0mq.pdf

Re)discovering the Social Responsibility of Business in Germany

Innovative Mobilitatsformen, die die Attraktivitat individueller Verkehrsmittel mit der Effizienz offentlicher Angebote verbinden, sind Bestandteil des verkehrspolitischen Leitbildes der Intermodalitat. Vor dem Hintergrund der jungsten Wettbewerbsdynamik in diesem Markt untersucht das vorliegende paper am Beispiel von Carsharing und Call a Bike die nutzerseitige Akzeptanz und die verkehrlich-okologischen Wirkungen intermodaler Dienste. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass die Weiterentwicklung der Mobilitatsangebote nach Kriterien der Individualisierbarkeit und Routinefahigkeit sowie eine weitere Angebotsintegration neue Zielgruppen erreicht. Bei vergleichbaren biografischen, soziookonomischen und infrastrukturellen Voraussetzungen werden bisherige sozial-okologische Ideale zusehends von pragmatischen und autoaffinen Mobilitatsorientierungen der Nutzer abgelost. Die flexiblen Zusatzangebote adressieren eine fur offentliche Verkehrsanbieter bedeutsame Zielgruppe hochmobiler, wahlfreier Kunden, die ihre Mobilitat mit vielfaltigen Zugangen sichern. Die Analyse der verkehrlichen und okologischen Folgewirkungen zeigt, dass Umweltvorteile vor allem in einer effizienten Angebotsorganisation und der Stabilisierung vorhandener multimodaler Kompetenzen der Nutzer liegen. Weitergehende automobile Entwohnungseffekte und verkehrliche Entlastungspotenziale sind gegenuber fruheren Studien zuruckzunehmen. Starker zu beachten sind die Effekte, die neue individuelle Dienste fur die Qualitat, das Image und die soziale Akzeptanz offentlicher Verkehrsangebote und intermodaler Mobilitatsstile bergen.

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/47919/1/514580070.pdf

Die Intermodalen Dienste der Bahn: mehr Mobilität und weniger Verkehr? Wirkungen und Potenziale neuer Verkehrsdienstleistungen

In today's world, digital information and communication technologies permeate space in the form of wireless networks. Independent of time and place, mobile media such as laptops and cell phones enable us to access virtually available information. In this article, the mobile ticketing service 'Ring&Ride' is used to illustrate how innovation as an assemblage, in the sense of Latour, can be implemented through new ways of linking existing technologies, infrastructures and their usage. The implications and characteristics of digital mobile media networks are analyzed on the basis of infrastructure and mediatheory approaches. Digitisation and mobilisation present multiple hybridization effects. In mobility research, the changes in the accessibility of infrastructures are of special interest. Digitalization leads to an increasingly ubiquitous availability of infra- and supply structures. Together with the widespread use of mobile devices, this provides new possibilities for individual acquisition and flexibility in the use of public transport. Public and private, stationary and mobile infrastructure elements are simultaneously linked with a new range and combination of areas of control and responsibility. The use of mobile media interconnects virtual and physical space and changes the way space is constructed, perceived and appropriated. A broader theoretical concept of mobility reflecting the way in which digital media have infiltrated everyday life is required. Future challenges for mobility research in the social sciences lie in a deeper analysis of the relationship between social practices of mobility and mobile communication.

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/47906/1/607123117.pdf

Christian Maertins

Papers

Die Intermodalen Dienste der Bahn: mehr Mobilität und weniger Verkehr? Wirkungen und Potenziale neuer Verkehrsdienstleistungen

Digitalisierung und Hybridisierung von Raum und Infrastruktur: mobiles Ticketing im öffentlichen Verkehr