Organizer: Barbara Ribeiro
Format: Online, Morning
Abstract:
The focus of this session lies in sharing practices as a key to unlock more sustainable mobility across cities. We probably have enough modelling to state that sharing mobilities constitute a key to unlock more sustainable, equitable mobility now and in the future, but the mind-set shift required calls for further understanding. Our congestion rates imply significant delays in travel time, and car-dependant cities entail environmental and social problems widely discussed in the critical literature. Car-dependency developed in cities for over 60 years, so most adults who currently own a car might not consider alternative pathways for their daily mobility. Relying on technological development to solve these issues seems unlikely at this stage. If the AEV (autonomous electric vehicles) technology matures and people continue buying AVs as they have been purchasing cars, researchers estimate we would increase the number of vehicles looking for parking spaces at about 11%: the only difference being zombie cars would do the job instead of drivers. If coupled with sharing practices, publications claim that AVs could enable us to reclaim between 15-20% of urbanised, valuable land – imagine how much green infrastructure we could build, adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change along the way! Therefore, AVs will unlock more sustainable futures only if coupled with sharing practices, understood under the umbrella of the circular economy. Shared mobility business models indicate the cost-effectiveness of switching from car ownership to sharing practices. If cost-effectiveness is out of the picture, understanding what people value about a car will provide insights into triggers for transitioning to shared mobilities. This session will explore notions to do with behavioural change and marketing to co-design strategies grounded on nuanced underlying mechanisms that could help unlock a mobility mindset shift from product ownership to service usage.
Themes: Knowledge-to-Action