Feasibility Study of Car-Sharing Service in Hangzhou, China Iskender Alp Humbaraci Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) Major Qualifying Projects August 2011 Feasibility Study of Car-Sharing Service in Hangzhou, China Iskender Alp Humbaraci Worcester Polytechnic Institute Joseph Michael Papotto Worcester Polytechnic Institute Lorey Michelle Aragon Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all Repository Citation Humbaraci, I. A., Papotto, J. M., & Aragon, L. M. (2011). Feasibility Study of Car-Sharing Service in Hangzhou, China. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all/2375 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Major Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Project Number: ZAZ-E111 Feasibility Study of Car-sharing Service in Hangzhou, China A Major Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science By: Lorey Aragon Alp Humbaraci Joseph Papotto In partnership with Hangzhou Dianzi University students: Xiaoyan Fei Wanqiong Lin Jinpin Quan Hexin Tian Yingchao Wu Ling Li Pu Wang Date: August 13, 2011 Approved: _________________________ Prof. Amy Zeng, Major Advisor i Abstract The goal of this project was to prepare an in-depth study of the feasibility of car-sharing service in Hangzhou city to effectively asses the business opportunities and social effects of this alternative of transportation. We analyzed the social, marketing and financial aspects of the feasibility of this business idea through a large survey, interviews and site visits. We also examined the supporting functions to implement future car-sharing service in Hangzhou, including advertising tools, location distribution design, and technologies. ii Acknowledgements We would like to thank Delta Consulting Associates and Hangzhou Omnipay for sponsoring this project. We would especially like to thank Kailai Zhou (Delta) and Peter Zhao (Omnipay) for their continuous assistance for this project. We would also like to thank Hangzhou Dianzi University for their hospitality. Finally we would like to thank our advisors: Professor Amy Zeng of WPI, Professor Hansong Pu of HDU and Dr. Xiaobing Xu of HDU throughout this project. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.1 Collaborative Consumption ................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Car-sharing Service.............................................................................................................................. 5 2.3 Air Pollution and Environmental Impact of Cars ................................................................................. 7 2.4 Air Pollution in China .......................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3: Car-sharing Services in the US and China.................................................................................. 16 3.1 Zipcar in Boston and Beyond ............................................................................................................ 16 3.1.1 History of Car-sharing Services .................................................................................................. 16 3.1.2 History of Zipcar ......................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.3 Zipcar and Competitors .............................................................................................................. 17 3.1.4 Zipcar and Customers ................................................................................................................ 20 3.1.5 Zipcar and Government ............................................................................................................. 21 3.2 Car-sharing in China .......................................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Why Hangzhou for this Project ......................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 4: Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 5: Results and Findings .................................................................................................................. 31 5.1 Surveys .............................................................................................................................................. 31 5.2 Interviews and Site Visits .................................................................................................................. 42 5.3 Social Impacts of Car-sharing in Hangzhou ........................................................................................... 55 5.3.1 Environmental Concerns ............................................................................................................ 55 5.3.2 Traffic in Hangzhou and Car-sharing’s Impact ........................................................................... 57 5.3.3 Social Impact of Electric Cars ..................................................................................................... 60 5.4 Marketing Aspects of Car-sharing in Hangzhou ................................................................................ 67 5.4.1 Advertising Car-sharing .............................................................................................................. 67 5.4.2 Target Customers ....................................................................................................................... 72 5.4.3 Marketing Similarities of Electric Cars and Zipcar...................................................................... 79 5.4.4 Marketing and Implementation Plans ....................................................................................... 82 5.5 Technological Aspects of Car-sharing in Hangzhou .............................................................................. 87 5.5.1 The Central Database ................................................................................................................. 87 iv 5.5.2 User Interfaces ........................................................................................................................... 87 5.5.3 On Board Vehicle System ........................................................................................................... 88 5.5.4 Communication System ............................................................................................................. 90 5.6 Financial Aspects of Car-sharing in Hangzhou .................................................................................. 93 5.6.1 Financial Plan ............................................................................................................................. 93 5.6.2 Car-sharing versus Private Cars .................................................................................................. 97 5.6.3 Car-sharing versus Taxi .............................................................................................................. 98 5.6.4 Car-Sharing versus Car-Rental.................................................................................................. 100 5.7 Location Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 102 5.7.1 Selection Criteria ...................................................................................................................... 102 5.7.2 Locations of Car-sharing Service in Hangzhou ......................................................................... 105 5.7.3 Parking Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 127 Chapter 6: Discussions and Recommendations ........................................................................................ 129 6.1 Risks of Implementing Car-sharing ................................................................................................. 129 6.2 Financial Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 133 6.3 Partnership Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 134 6.4 Relationship between Price and Demand ....................................................................................... 135 6.5 Reflections on the Design Process .................................................................................................. 137 6.6 Suggestions for Future Studies ....................................................................................................... 146 Appendices ...............................................................................................................................................

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