Why carsharing with Getaround is a solution for cities
How we reduce car ownership and make cities better
Since we started our company over 10 years ago, our mission has always been to help improve cities through better mobility — namely, carsharing.
Why carsharing?
Most of our cities today are overcrowded and overburdened by cars, which remain parked 95% of the time. Unused cars and parking lots take up precious urban space that could be used for pedestrian spaces, parks, or playgrounds. In Paris, half of the public space is used solely for cars.
It just doesn’t make sense for individuals to own a car when there are other, better mobility options available.
For those times when you’d rather have a car — for example, when you’re picking up furniture or visiting a remote place in the countryside that isn’t reachable by train or bus — that’s where carsharing comes in.
Cars are shared amongst people in the community, and you use a car when you need one. With technology like Getaround Connect, you use your phone to unlock the car and don’t need to meet someone to collect the keys. You’re fully autonomous — which is basically like having your own car, right?
With a peer-to-peer offering, even cars owned by individuals that might otherwise stay parked can be shared by others, making money for the owner at the same time. Carsharing makes that possible.
What makes Getaround special?
Getaround is just one of many services in Europe that enable carsharing. There are many reasons why we’re confident we stand apart from the competition — for one, we’ve got over 3,000 connected cars in Paris, making us the indisputable leader in the French capital — but we’re understandably a bit biased.
So we’ll let someone else do the talking.
The ADEME study
In November 2019, the 6t consultancy firm conducted an extensive study of users of the main carsharing services in France, including Getaround*, on behalf of ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency).
(*When the study was collecting its data in 2019, Getaround was still called Drivy, and the app-unlock technology — now Getaround Connect — was referred to as Drivy Open.)
You can read the full report (in French) here, but we’ve highlighted the study’s 3 key conclusions about Getaround below:
#1: Getaround users don’t need (or want) to own cars
More than 3 out of 4 users that have used Getaround Connect currently don’t own a car. That means more than 75% of our users either don’t see a car as a necessity or are hindered by the constraints required by car ownership (such as the costs to buy and maintain it, or the lack of a parking space). Using our service shows that they do occasionally need a car, and Getaround gives them that instant, convenient access.
Many of our users live in cities, so it’s understandable that 26% of them have never owned a car. But even more importantly, over 50% of them had previously owned one or more cars, but have since completely abandoned car ownership.
Why does that matter? It proves that Getaround is a viable alternative to ownership. We’ve got a variety of cars located all around the city, which you can rent and unlock 24/7 via your smartphone. Because Getaround is just as convenient as owning a car, it’s easy to give up your private vehicle without looking back.
#2: Every Getaround Connect car replaces 4.3 private cars
The study finds that every Getaround Connect car directly replaces 4.3 private cars. That means 3.3 fewer cars on the street for every connected car that’s added to our fleet.
We know that number can be higher. It’s our company-wide goal to make the Getaround experience as seamless and optimised for carsharing as possible. To get there, we’ve introduced rentals by the hour to accommodate even the shortest trips.
With more active users than similar players, the growing size of our fleet, plus the fact that we’re scaling at a faster pace than the competition, Getaround accounts for more than 50% of the total demotorisation in France due to carsharing. And it should only increase with our recent addition of hourly rentals.
In a nutshell, that means we’re removing more cars from the streets — over 17,000 — than all the other carsharing players in France put together.
#3: Getaround reduces total kilometres driven
Finally, the study also analysed the savings in kilometres travelled as a result of reducing private car ownership, thanks to roundtrip carsharing.
For Getaround, the study’s most optimistic estimate found that each connected car on the platform saves up to 13,000 km annually. If we add up the total of our entire fleet, that means Getaround helps reduce the total distance driven in France by more than 53 million kilometres per year.
That’s a lot of CO2 emissions that aren’t polluting our cities, thanks to Getaround.
So what does it all mean?
Overall, the ADEME study is a strong indicator that roundtrip carsharing — and especially, carsharing with Getaround — does contribute to demotorisation, helping to reduce private car ownership and the total number of cars on the streets. And we’ve already seen how this has a positive impact overall on cities and quality of life.
For cities that want to truly embrace seamless carsharing, Getaround is a key lever to reducing cars and congestion on your streets. If you’re in charge of mobility in your city or a decision-maker in your local government, get in touch with us at eu.cities@getaround.com.
For us at Getaround, we’re more determined than ever to continue the journey towards our mission of replacing car ownership with carsharing. It’s still a long road ahead, but we’ve got a full tank and are ready to keep driving until we get there.
Do you want to contribute to making cities better places to live? Check out our open positions to join us.
