Sitting Idle: Melbourne Cars Unused for 93% of Every Week

Melbourne car owners drive their vehicles for an average of only 11 hours a week leaving the majority of Melbourne cars underutilised for the other 157 hours of a 168 hour week, according to latest research conducted by RideEco, Melbourne's first community carsharing platform.

"Cars are one of the main purchases someone will make in their lifetime and along with the initial outlay, car ownership can be an ongoing financial burden. The RACV estimates even a small car will cost owners nearly $7000 a year to run. It is very surprising that Melbournians only drive their cars for 11 hours a week, considering these costs," RideEco's Operations Director, Ian Yong said.

The latest international movement towards carsharing has just arrived in Melbourne with the launch of locally-run, RideEco. It allows local residents to safely rent their vehicles to others in their neighbourhood on a short term basis, at the touch of their mobile phone.

But it's Melbournians" conscience, just as much as their wallets, which is making local car owners want to get on board with this latest initiative. RideEco's research revealed that, if they could do so safely, 62% of respondents would lend their car to a stranger for money, while 63% said they would do so if it meant benefits for the environment.

"Joining a carsharing programme gives car owners a way to recoup these costs, put their underutilised cars to use, and benefit the environment all at the same time," Mr Yong said. Carsharing programmes have been shown internationally to reduce CO2 emissions, as members substitute buying a car and instead use a combination of carsharing and public transport. This has been proven to reduce the number of cars on the road by nine to 13 cars for each car shared. Correspondingly, users of P2P carsharing reduce their personal vehicle kilometres travelled on average by 43% after joining a P2P carsharing platform (CSP).[1]

"An average car, driving 15,000kms per year, produces around three tonnes of CO2. So if we can reduce nine cars on the road for every car that joins the programme, it would save 27 tonnes of CO2 emissions, per car shared. Also, as our communities become more urbanised, competition for parking increases and the roads become more congested. Carsharing is a viable option that provides a win-win solution to these problems, for the future of our environment and communities, by making the most of cars that are currently sitting un-used the majority of the time," Mr Yong said.

Additional information:
RideEco surveyed 609 Melbournians during the month of September 2012 to achieve the above survey results.

About RideEco:
RideEco is Melbourne's first community-based peer -2-peer carsharing platform, which allows local residents to share vehicles with others in their neighbourhood. RideEco facilitates this process - making it easy, economical and safe. The RideEco team are all automotive enthusiasts, and after noticing their cars sat largely underutilised during the working week, they spotted a unique win-win opportunity to bring to Melbourne creating Melbourne's first community carsharing platform. Additional information can be found at RideEco.com.au.

[1] P2P Carsharing Service Design: Informing User Experience Development, Aaron Lewis and Mark Simmons, 2012.

Contact:
Rohan McLachlan
Mulberry Marketing Communications
suite 1, level 9
92-94 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne, Victoria, 3000
0390239110