Explaining the differential growth of peer-to-peer car-sharing in European cities May 13, 2016 Master‘s Thesis Dennis Franciscus van der Linden UU Student #: 4102908
[email protected] Tel: +31 6 51361606 Utrecht University Study program: Innovation Sciences UU Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Koen Frenken Second reader: Dr. Wouter Boon University of California at Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) Berkeley, California, United States of America Climate-KIC European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Master label programme Explaining the differential growth of peer-to-peer car-sharing in European cities Dennis F. van der Linden Abstract While car-sharing has proven quite successful in some cities, in other cities the phenomenon of car-sharing is less developed. This study aims to explain these spatial differences in the growth of peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing in cities. Firstly, this study shows the current state of P2P car-sharing in cities within the countries United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Germany, and Belgium. P2P car- sharing shows to be more successful in France and The Netherlands, and less successful in Germany and the United Kingdom when compared to Belgium. Secondly, from a Multi-level perspective (MLP), niche and regime factors were operationalized which can differ on the city level to explain the spatial differences in niche developments and regime interactions. A quantitative research method was applied, using a negative binomial regression model, to test the influence of these city level variables on the number of shared cars. Cities where the regime of personal car ownership and use is less established, indicated by a larger share of trips taken by public transport and a historic city center less suitable for car use shows to lead to more shared P2P cars.