Carsharing is becoming increasingly popular in rural areas - but you have to do it right

Whether in the city or small towns, the carsharing offer and the demand for it are growing in Rhineland-Palatinate. Numerous municipalities have educated themselves on the topic, reports the consulting energy agency in Mainz. Sometimes a commercial provider is active, sometimes it's municipal utilities, and sometimes a cooperative organization is behind it. For a concept to be sustainable, it must fit the respective location, says Dominik Böckling, who is responsible for carsharing at the energy agency.

At the agency, there is a guidance office for alternative drives. It provides municipalities with information, connects communities with each other, and establishes contacts with further stakeholders such as the Federal Carsharing Association. The stated goal of the agency is a high share of electric vehicles in carsharing fleets. Nationwide, e-cars made up around three percent of the entire car fleet at the beginning of this year, but in carsharing fleets, it has already been 17 to 18 percent.

Offers in around 60 municipalities

The energy agency estimates that currently, there is a carsharing offer in almost 60 cities or smaller towns in Rhineland-Palatinate—from Alzey in Rheinhessen to Wörth in the far south of the state. Böckling says that in the larger cities of Rhineland-Palatinate, commercial providers already offer an established carsharing service. One example is "Book'n'Drive," which is active in Mainz and Koblenz, among other places. According to them, the development in both cities is very positive, the offer has been significantly expanded at both locations, and further growth is expected.

In Koblenz, the expansion is ongoing, and according to the city, by 2025, all 42 parking spaces allocated to "Book'n'Drive" at 20 locations will be available. Janina Steinkrüger (Greens), Mainz's Traffic Councillor, calls carsharing an important component of sustainable mobility development. For Florian Wiesemann, head of Mainz Mobility, an expansion is also a gain for public transport due to large overlaps in the customer base.

"Book'n'Drive" recently won an award for 50 additional carsharing parking spaces in Mainz in an awarding procedure, and according to the city, around 200 vehicles will be available in spring 2025—100 in private parking spaces and 100 in public street spaces. The provider "UrStromMobil" offers another five carsharing vehicles in Mainz. Behind this is a citizens' energy cooperative. Future allocations of parking spaces are already being considered, says city spokesman Ralf Peterhanwahr.

Neuwied: Offer not profitable

In rural areas, according to Böckling, municipalities are primarily active in carsharing and finance projects. It usually does not make money; it is a "subsidy business." Another variant is the anchor model. Here, vehicles are used by the administration or other institutions during working hours and are available to citizens outside these times, for example in the Verbandsgemeinde Bodenheim near Mainz.

In Ingelheim in Rheinhessen, carsharing started in 2015 with the first offer from "Rabenkopf BürgerEnergie." In the meantime, other providers have joined, with a total of twelve vehicles. Currently, talks are underway for an expansion, the city reported. This is also happening in networking with other interested municipalities in the district.

In Neuwied, the municipal utilities entered carsharing in 2018. It started with two vehicles, and there are now eight. "Demand is stable, higher in the city center than in the districts," reports spokesman Gerd Neuwirth. Whether further expansion will take place is hard to predict. "We clearly see that the topic needs to be accompanied by marketing and communication to keep demand high," says Neuwirth. "At the same time, it is also clear that the offer in Neuwied is not economically viable." As a municipal utility, they see it as—as a small—contribution to the energy transition.