Keyword car pooling; cars sharing; mobility management; park & ride; parking; car free day; mobility week

Appropriate facilities and services provided within urban areas contribute considerably to the mobility management and driving patterns of car users. This includes facilities and services such as carpooling, car sharing, park and ride, differentiated parking systems, organization of car free days and sustainable mobility weeks at local, national and regional levels.

Car pooling is the sharing of a car to a destination in order to reduce fuel use, pollution, travel costs and to avoid inner city congestion. Car pooling is often used by people who each have a car, but decide to travel together. It is, in particular, used for commuting to work. Car pooling leads to higher occupancy rates and thus reduces the total volume of cars on the roads. Sometimes there exist special facilities provided for car poolers, such as high occupancy vehicle lanes specifically for cars with multiple occupants.

Car sharing is a system that allows for sharing of cars either through cooperative ownership or through some other mechanism whereby multiple households share a pool of automobiles and sometimes other vehicles. Often the participants in car sharing are people who do not need a car for daily commuting to work, but use public transport, walking or cycling and need to use the car only from time to time. Car sharing can be organized at the local, national and regional levels and proves to be very convenient for people when travelling on holidays and using the car only a few times per year. Each car sharing car replaces on average 5 to 6 private cars. Car sharing can thus save urban space and reduce travel demand.

Park and ride terminals are public transport stations that allow commuters to drive short distances in their personal automobiles to catch a ride on a bus or train. These stations are usually located in the suburbs of cities and have nearby parking lots where the car can be left during the day and retrieved upon return. The use of park and ride facilities allows passengers to avoid the stress of directly dealing with traffic congestion. In addition, parking is often free or at least less expensive than what it costs to drive into and park in the city centre.

Organizing car free days (CFD) and mobility weeks at local, national and regional levels have proven to be a useful tool in promoting sustainable transportation and sustainable modes of transport. During these events, people get accustomed to and discover the benefits of using public transport that may lead to continuing use even after the event. Such events also help the local authorities to identify the gaps in urban transport systems and provide pointers for the development of the transport system taking account of the needs of all people.