The impact of land-use variables on free-floating carsharing vehicle rental choice and parking duration

Abstract

Carsharing is an innovative transportation mobility solution, which offers the benefits of a personal vehicle without the burden of ownership. Free-floating carsharing service remains a relatively new concept and has gained popularity because it offers a flexible one-way auto rental option that charges usage by the minute. Traditionally, carsharing services require returning the rented vehicle to the same location where rented within a specified rental duration. Since free-floating service is a very new addition in the overall transportation system, the empirical research is still very limited. This study focuses on identifying the impact of land-use variables on free-floating carsharing vehicle rental choice and parking duration of car2go services in Austin, Texas on a typical weekday between the 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM off-hour period. Two different methodological approaches, namely a logistic regression model approach and a duration model technique are used for this purpose. The results of this study indicate that demographic variables, the carsharing parking policy, and the number of transit stops all affect the usage of free-floating carsharing vehicles.