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Since the early 20th century, inventors have conceptualized “plane cars” and other urban aerial transportation. Emerging innovations in electrification, automation, and other technologies are enabling new opportunities for on-demand air mobility, business models, and aircraft design. Urban air mobility (UAM) envisions a safe, sustainable, affordable, and accessible air transportation system for passenger mobility, goods delivery, and emergency services within or traversing metropolitan areas. This research employed a multi-method approach comprised of 106 interviews with thought leaders and two stakeholder workshops to construct the history, ecosystem, state of the industry, and potential evolution of UAM. The history, current developments, and anticipated milestones of UAM can be classified into six phases: 1) “flying car” concepts from the early 1910s to 1950s, 2) early UAM operations using scheduled helicopter services from the 1950s to 1980s, 3) re-emergence of on-demand services starting in the 2010s, 4) corridor services using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) envisioned for the 2020s, 5) hub and spoke services, and 6) point-to-point services. In the future, UAM could face several barriers to growth and mainstreaming, such as the existing regulatory environment; community acceptance; and concerns about safety, noise, social equity, and environmental impacts. UAM also could be limited by infrastructure and airspace management needs, as well as business model constraints. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on sustainability, social and economic impacts, airspace integration, and other topics.

Carsharing (or short-term auto use) provides a flexible alternative that meets diverse transportation needs across the globe, while reducing the negative impacts of private vehicle ownership. More than 65 years ago, carsharing began appearing in Europe. It has expanded to approximately 1,100 cities worldwide, in 26 nations on five continents. This article provides a global perspective of carsharing growth and future developments from 2006 through 2015, employing data from three surveys conducted in 2006, 2008, and 2010. The authors explore the interview findings of 25 carsharing experts worldwide representing 25 of 26 nations, collected in 2010.

Carsharing provides users access to a shared vehicle fleet for short-term use throughout the day, reducing the need for private vehicles. The provision of on-street and public off-street parking dedicated to carsharing is an important policy area confronting public agencies. As of July 2009, approximately 377,600 individuals were carsharing members in North America in about 57 metropolitan areas. A total of 17 jurisdictions, one state (California), and eight public transit operators in North America have formal and informal carsharing parking policies, pilot projects, and proposed legislation. These are reviewed in this paper, along with a framework for carsharing parking policy that reflects three levels of governmental support. In addition, the authors examine carsharing parking policies in three jurisdictions in the San Francisco Bay Area, which accounts for an estimated 50,000 carsharing members and 1,100 shared-use vehicles. Supporting this examination is an intercept survey on carsharing parking (n=425) conducted in the Bay Area. Results show that most people supported the conversion of some type of spaces for carsharing use, and 48% thought that carsharing organizations should compensate the city for on-street spaces. At the same time, converting most types of spaces was opposed by at least 20% of respondents. Neighborhood residents were generally more in favor of parking conversion for carsharing than people visiting the area for work or errands. Finally, a majority (61%) felt that non-profits should have priority over for-profit organizations for carsharing spaces and should pay less than for-profit organizations.

Carsharing provides users access to a shared vehicle fleet for short-term use throughout the day, reducing the need for private vehicles. The provision of on-street and public off-street parking dedicated to carsharing is an important policy area confronting public agencies. As of July 2009, approximately 377,600 individuals were carsharing members in North America in about 57 metropolitan areas. A total of 17 jurisdictions, one state (California), and eight public transit operators in North America have formal and informal carsharing parking policies, pilot projects, and proposed legislation. These are reviewed in this paper, along with a framework for carsharing parking policy that reflects three levels of governmental support. In addition, the authors examine carsharing parking policies in three jurisdictions in the San Francisco Bay Area, which accounts for an estimated 50,000 carsharing members and 1,100 shared-use vehicles. Supporting this examination is an intercept survey on carsharing parking (n=425) conducted in the Bay Area. Results show that most people supported the conversion of some type of spaces for carsharing use, and 48% thought that carsharing organizations should compensate the city for on-street spaces. At the same time, converting most types of spaces was opposed by at least 20% of respondents. Neighborhood residents were generally more in favor of parking conversion for carsharing than people visiting the area for work or errands. Finally, a majority (61%) felt that non-profits should have priority over for-profit organizations for carsharing spaces and should pay less than for-profit organizations.

Carsharing organizations (or short-term auto use) provide members access to a fleet of shared vehicles on an hourly basis, reducing the need for private vehicle ownership. This paper reflects a ten-year retrospective of carsharing in Canada and the United States (U.S.), including results from a 2008 operator survey. Since 1994, a total of 50 carsharing programs have been deployed in North America⎯33 are operational, and 17 are defunct. As of July 1, 2008, there were 14 active programs in Canada and 19 in the U.S., with approximately 319,000 carsharing members sharing over 7,500 vehicles in North America. Another six programs were planned to launch in North America by January 2009. The four largest providers in the U.S. and Canada support 99% and 95.2% of total membership, respectively. In this ten-year retrospective, the authors examine North America’s carsharing evolution from initial market entry and experimentation (1994 to mid-2002) to growth and market diversification (mid-2002 to late-2007) to commercial mainstreaming (late-2007 to present). This evolution includes increased competition, new market entrants, program consolidation, increased market diversification, capital investment, technological advancement, and greater inter-operator collaboration. Ongoing growth and competition are forecasted. Rising fuel costs and increased climate change awareness will likely facilitate this expansion.

Carsharing (or short-term auto use) provides a flexible alternative that meets diverse transportation needs across the globe while reducing the negative impacts of private vehicle ownership. Although carsharing appeared in Europe between the 1940s and 1980s, the concept did not become popularized until the early 1990s. For nearly 20 years, worldwide participation in carsharing has been growing. Today, carsharing operates in approximately 600 cities around the world, in 18 nations and on 4 continents. Approximately 348,000 individuals share nearly 11,700 vehicles as part of organized carsharing services (>60% in Europe). Malaysia is operating a carsharing pilot, with a planned launch in 2007. Another eight countries are exploring carsharing. Thirty-three carsharing expert surveys were identified on an international basis. Cost savings, convenient locations, and guaranteed parking were identified as the most common motivations for carsharing use worldwide. An international comparison of carsharing operations, including similarities and differences, is provided. Continued growth is forecast, particularly among new and emerging market segments, such as businesses and universities. Growth-oriented operators will continue to account for the largest number of members and fleets deployed worldwide. In addition, high energy costs; limited and expensive parking; ongoing diffusion of operational knowledge, benefits, and supportive technologies; and increased demand for personal vehicle access in developing nations will affect carsharing’s growth and expansion.

Carsharing (or short-term auto use) provides a flexible alternative that meets diverse transportation needs across the globe while reducing the negative impacts of private vehicle ownership. Although carsharing appeared in Europe between the 1940s and 1980s, the concept did not become popularized until the early 1990s. For nearly 20 years, worldwide participation in carsharing has been growing. Today, carsharing operates in approximately 600 cities around the world, in 18 nations and on 4 continents. Approximately 348,000 individuals share nearly 11,700 vehicles as part of organized carsharing services (>60% in Europe). Malaysia is operating a carsharing pilot, with a planned launch in 2007. Another eight countries are exploring carsharing. Thirty-three carsharing expert surveys were identified on an international basis. Cost savings, convenient locations, and guaranteed parking were identified as the most common motivations for carsharing use worldwide. An international comparison of carsharing operations, including similarities and differences, is provided. Continued growth is forecast, particularly among new and emerging market segments, such as businesses and universities. Growth-oriented operators will continue to account for the largest number of members and fleets deployed worldwide. In addition, high energy costs; limited and expensive parking; ongoing diffusion of operational knowledge, benefits, and supportive technologies; and increased demand for personal vehicle access in developing nations will affect carsharing’s growth and expansion.