Modeling Station-Based and Free-Floating Carsharing Demand : Test Case Study for Berlin

Abstract

Carsharing, in any form, is still growing around the world. One of the effects is the increasing number of cities in which multiple carsharing operators are competing. The carsharing industry has never been as competitive as it is now: the present is a good time for researchers to invest efforts in providing tools for the assessment and planning of carsharing programs. Nevertheless, efforts in this direction are still scarce, in particular for some of the newest forms in which carsharing has been implemented, such as free-floating carsharing. This paper reports on a study that made use of MATSim, an agent-based simulation software that had already been used to model station-based carsharing, to evaluate different carsharing scenarios for the city of Berlin. The main findings are the existing high potential to extend carsharing services further in Berlin and the apparent complementarity of station-based and free-floating carsharing. On the methodological level, the work introduces a new tool for the modeling of free-floating carsharing along with improvements of the previously existing station-based carsharing model.