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At 12:04 PM 09/07/2000 CET, you wrote: >Dear Colleagues, > please, could somebody briefly explain the difference between car >pooling and car sharing? Carpooling (a subcateory of "ridesharing" which also includes vanpooling, and sometimes public transit) means motorists offering rides (i.e., filling a seat that would otherwise). It is most common for commute trips (including trips to school), but some organizations exist to match riders for special trips. "Carsharing" refers to short-term car rentals located in reidential areas, designed to substitute for private vehicle ownership. Some carsharing is informal (a few friends who live near each other purchasing a car together), others are operated by formal cooperatives, and others are private businesses. Carsharing does two good thing. It makes vehicles available to households that cannot afford to own one, and it reduces per capita vehicle travel compared with private ownership. Experience indicates that when people shift from owning their own car to relying on carsharing they reduce their vehicle use by 40-60%, since they pay by the use. There is some confusion about these terms. I have heard some British planners use the term "carsharing" for what is described above as "carpooling" or "ridesharing." For detailed information on these strategies see the appropriate chapters in the Online TDM Encyclopedia, available at our website (http://www.vtpi.org). Each chapter describes a TDM strategy, how it is implemented, benefits and costs, best practices, case studies and references/sources of information. The Encyclopedia is still under development, so we'd appreciate any suggestions for improving it. Also see the paper "Carsharing Benefits, Costs and Equity Impacts," posted at our website, a version of which is forthcoming in Transportation Research Record. Sincerely, Todd Litman, Director Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" 1250 Rudlin Street Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Website: http://www.vtpi.org %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%