Berlin: STATTAUTO - Germany largest car-sharing company

Abstract:

The Berlin-based STATTAUTO car-sharing company is the largest of its kind in Germany with a membership of 3,100. It started as a research project and proved to be a runaway success which now contributes to the urban eco-balance with a reduction of 510,000 car kilometres and an annual decrease in CO ₂ emissions of 80.32 tonnes. The project was chosen as good practice for the following reasons:

• setting up of an innovative, environmentally compatible project;
• creation of new employment;
• member participation;
• overall reduction of car use;
• increase of deliberate car use;
• reduction of CO ₂ emissions
• co-operation in the national and international car-sharing network.

Concept and aims

Car-ownership modelling has been paid little attention so far. Usually the decision to buy a car is regarded as an important goal in order to achieve an independent lifestyle. Although the purchase is rather costly, most people give priority to the ownership of a private car as a symbol of independence. Instant availability and free choice are still highly valued. In most cases mobility acquires significance as an important bonus in regard to getting a better job, increasing social contacts, shopping possibilities etc. However, although private car ownership subjectively provides the feeling of mobility, in objective terms a private car is mainly immobile.

In the 1980s research underlined that in Berlin a private car is used only 57 minutes per day and that on average 1.3 persons travel by private car compared to 1.4 persons on the national level. This includes 40 minutes per day for private use. The national average of annual car kilometres amounts to a mere 14,500 km per vehicle. In addition, congestion in urban centres forces car users to spend approximately 65 hours per year on the street in traffic jams. Furthermore, a private car user has to pay all costs on his own whereas the car-sharer pays only part of the investment in a new car, the insurance, the maintenance and running costs. Recent calculations for an average 500 km mileage per month revealed that in Bremen the costs for private car use amount to 654 DM whereas the same distance driven by a shared car would cost 375 DM. Therefore, the philosophy of car-sharing companies is to organise the mobility of their customers on the one hand, and to keep the overall cost down on the other hand. Car-sharing can be regarded as a supplementary means of transport. Such a policy leaves the choice with the customer but increases the possibilities of environmental gains. The following effects can be named:

• the availability and convenience of a car is maintained;
• individual transportation and maintenance costs are drastically reduced;
• the overall number of cars is reduced;
• mobility by car is combined with environmentally compatible means of transport;
• CO₂ emissions are reduced;
• car-free households enable new urban developments like car-free areas.

In 1988 the first German car-sharing company started with one car and an answering machine as part of a scientific research project. At the time the behaviour of the Berlin car-share user was the focus of attention. Within two years the model had been increased to four cars and approximately 50 participants. As the results had been promising, the researchers decided to set up the STATTAUTO company in 1990 (the name STATTAUTO was chosen as a pun on "city-car" and "instead-of car"). At the start of STATTAUTO the following factors were considered significant:

• the highest frequency of use was in the afternoon instead of the expected evening hours;
• the shared car was mostly used for weekend trips, shopping, goods transportation, and for the transportation of friends;
• the number of weekend trips rapidly increased after the fall of the Wall, pointing to increasing demand in the future;
• a city with 1.4 million cars users should offer a great potential for an innovative transport alternative.

Implementation

STATTAUTO is one of the most spectacular success stories to emerge from the sustainable development movement. Shortly after setting up, STATTAUTO company became a fast growing company (compare also results and impacts section), and in the year 2000 the membership amounted to over 8,000. It is mainly used by private individuals and private car pools, although some companies use the car-sharing system for delivery purposes. Since its founding, the company has opened offices in Cottbus, Potsdam, Rostock, and the greater Hamburg area.

The membership fee is 200 DM for a single person, 300 DM for two-person pooling, and 400 DM for companies and projects. Thereafter, the monthly charge is 16 DM for a single person, 24 DM for two- person pooling, and 32 DM for companies and projects. After a test month the new members have to pay the entrance fee. Before people can join STATTAUTO they have to pay a deposit. The deposit, which draws 1.5% interest, is 1,000 DM for a single person, 1,500 DM for two-person pooling, and 2,000 DM for companies and projects. On leaving the company the deposit is fully repaid.

The current car stock is 310 vehicles. The cars are stationed at 100 distribution points. Each distribution point has between two and seven parking spaces. The distribution system for cars is spread over the city with a concentration in densely populated inner city districts. On average a STATTAUTO member reaches a distribution point in 10 minutes. Parking space is provided either by private persons, district authorities, or other institution (e.g. churches).

The cars can be booked 24 hours a day by telephone and internet. Members are given a ”mobilcard” which gives them access to the car-key lockers. In addition, each car is equipped with a pre-payment card which is used for cashless payment at petrol stations. One-way and open-end bookings have been possible since the year 2000.

Furthermore, STATTAUTO is offering a mobility concept for long-distance travel. Members are eligible to travel on all networks of European Car-Sharing or ECS (cf. the actors and structures section). In co-operation with a travel agency, STATTAUTO is also arranging the booking of railway tickets. It provides supplies from the alternative shopping centre StattKauf.

cash car®

cash car® is a new innovation within the STATTAUTO model and is operated by the STATTAUTO-owned company CHOICE. It is based in Berlin and encompasses more than 100 cars. cash car® is expanding to Hamburg, Munich, and other large German cities.

cash car® is a form of full service leasing allowing members to lease cars of their choice for a period of 36 months and, during this time, to rent them to other users during periods when they do not need them, for example on weekends. If car sharing is a programme for people who occasionally need a car, then cash car® is a programme for people who occasionally do not need their cars. Thanks to the cash car® programme, members can significantly reduce their leasing expenses. cash car® is especially interesting for firms, since company vehicles can be rented on the weekends and thus earn income.

Participants in cash car® are automatically members in STATTAUTO and enjoy a 20% rebate in rental services.

BVG Metrocard

In co-operation with the BVG, the Berlin public transit authority, STATTAUTO has developed the Metrocard. The Metrocard allows holders to use the public transit system year round and additionally gives them access to STATTAUTO vehicles at prearranged times, for example on weekends. If the vehicle is not needed at a particular time, it can be rented to another member.

Results and Impacts

This overview of STATTAUTO’s growth underlines the spectacular growth and wide acceptance of this new mode of transport:

The figures for 2000 are calculated according to the average growth of previous years.

Per one car-sharing vehicle, five cars are taken out of operation. This leads to a reduction of approximately 42,000 kilometres per year per car, and a CO ₂ reduction of 10 tonnes. This translates into a total CO₂ emissions reduction of almost 300,000 tonnes in the year 2000.

Shared cars are mainly used in leisure time and for the transport of goods. Studies have shown that 77% of all journeys last under 24 hours, and in 56% of the journeys the travel distance is between 20 and 100 km. The travel distance per member fell from previously 8,700 km per year to 4,000 km per year. A shared car from STATTAUTO is driven approximately 30,000 km per year compared to the national 14,500 km per year with private cars. On average two persons travel in a STATTAUTO car compared to the national average of 1.3 persons in private car use.

Actors and Structures

The STATTAUTO company was founded as a limited liability company in 1990 and now has the status of a corporation. In 2000 it employs a staff of 29 full time employees. The company organises the operational service.

Member participation in the STATTAUTO corporation is achieved via regular meetings of the STATTAUTO registered association which is open to all STATTAUTO members. They have a say in issues such as pricing.

STATTAUTO is member of European Car Sharing which has its headquarters in Bremen. European Car Sharing is a network which gives shared access to the cars of the partner schemes. In the year 2000 there were networks in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The network comprises about 36,000 car-sharers in over 300 cities and towns.

Finance

The company offers different prices for different car types, different operating times and mileage rates.

There are six categories for car types ranging from Smart (a); Opel Corsa or VW Lupo (b); Audi A3, Citroen Berlingo, VW Golf Combi, Fiat Punto Cabrio (c); Audi 14 Kombi, Mercedes Sprinter, VW Passat Kombi, Opel Zafira (d); VW Caravelle, Ford Galaxy, Mercedes Sprint (large), Fiat Barchetti Cabrio (e); and Audi A6 (f). The car types are linked to different prices (all prices in DM):

Prices in DM

- prices below 500 km include petrol which is paid cashless with the STATTAUTO pre-payment petrol card;

- above 500 km the customer has to pay for petrol;

- women do not have to pay the inclusive prices after midnight;

- there are special discounts for companies and projects (up to 20%);

- The final price includes the price for the operation time plus the price for mileage.

Evaluation and Statements

Car-Sharing Schemes are increasingly regarded as a viable option for the reduction of the use of private vehicles as called for by the Enquete Commission on the Earth’s Atmosphere of the German Bundestag in their 1995 report. The arguments are also relevant for the promotion of models like STATTAUTO.

Municipal and other reforms could make the STATTAUTO model even more viable. Among other things, insurance law should be amended so that both driver and passenger are comprehensively protected against all risks arising from carrying passengers. The financial question must be properly resolved. An amendment to the Passenger Transport Law is needed, in order to allow drivers to accept remuneration for taking a passenger. Road traffic provisions should also include special provisions with respect to " pick-up" and "drop-off" passenger cars. Similarly, special privileges should be granted to passenger cars used by more than one person, such as access to reserved lanes. (Enquete Commission on the Earth’s Atmosphere of the German Bundestag 1995: p.174)

The manager of STATTAUTO, Markus Petersen, regards two areas as essential in order to spread the car-sharing concept even further and to make it more transferable to other cities (1993: p. 742):

1. the Road Traffic Act should be amended by a provision that reserves some car parking spaces for car-sharing vehicles (comparable to spaces for taxis);
2. research on the improvement of car-sharing concepts is needed for the area of marketing, software support, and technical equipment, especially car-sharing distribution points.

Furthermore, there should be a closer inter-linking of the car-sharing system with other environmentally compatible transport networks. That such a linkage is possible has already been demonstrated in the BVG Metrocard programme.

Source of Information

Petersen, Markus 1993: Teile und fahre. Fünf Jahre STATTAUTO Berlin, in: Internationales Verkehrswesen, Vol. 45, No.12, S. 740-742

Petersen, Markus 1993: Auto-Leasing und Car-Sharing - Effiziente Nutzung des Automobils als Unternehmenskonzept, in: Wolfgang Münst, (Hg.) Stadt statt Auto. Neue städtebauliche Qualitäten mit weniger Autos, Darmstadt

Petersen, Markus 1994: Das Car-Sharing-Projekt STATTAUTO, in: Siegfried Behrendt / Rolf Kreibich, (Hg.), Die Mobilität von morgen. Umwelt- und Verkehrsentlastung in den Städten, Weinheim, S. 241-252

Franke, Sassa 1994: Verkehrspolitik in Berlin. Chancen und Möglichkeiten zur Begrenzung des motorisierten Individualverkehrs, Diplomarbeit am Fachbereich Politische Wissenschaften der FU Berlin, Berlin

Baum, Herbert / Pesch, Stephan 1994: Untersuchung der Eignung von Car-Sharing im Hinblick auf Reduzierung von Stadtverkehrsproblemen, Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministers für Verkehr, Köln

Enquete Comission the EarthAtmosphere of the German Bundestag 1995: Mobility and Climate. Developing Environmentally Sound Transport Policy Concepts, Bonn

www.stattauto.de

www.stattauto-berlin.de

Contact:

Cities:

Berlin :

Berlin has a population of almost 3.5 million of which approximately 11% are foreign citizens. The wider conurbation has an additional population of nearly one million. The city covers 889 square kilometres; 38 km from north to south and 45 km from east to west. 24 per cent of the city’s surface is water and navigable waterways are 197 km in length. In size it is almost as large as the densely populated Ruhr area in North Rhine Westphalia. Berlin is the largest city in Germany, and one of the sixteen regional States (Bundesländer) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The unified municipality of Berlin is a decentralised body divided into 23 districts (Bezirke). The districts have between 50,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. They carry responsibility for local politics and their own administration. Unlike independent municipalities, however, they do not have financial autonomy but are allocated funds by the City Government, the Senate of Berlin. The main authority for the City as a whole is the Senate which is divided into different administrative departments (comparable to Ministries in other German Länder).

Although Berlin has experienced a steady decline in industry, there are still over 200,000 people working in the manufacturing sector. Approximately 230,000 of the 1.5 million citizens in the workforce are employed in trade and about 750,000 people have jobs in service, primarily in the public sector.

In addition, Berlin is a centre of environmental research as well as technology, and a great number of businesses are engaged in environment-related activities. According to a study by the ifo Institute in Munich and the IÖW (Institute for Ecological Economic Research) in Berlin, 400 companies with 13,000 employees are directly involved in environmental protection (engineering offices, and producers and distributors of environmental technology). This number has tripled within the last ten years, and half of the companies have started as new businesses since 1990. Furthermore, Berlin is a stronghold of scientific research with approx. 100 companies involved in measurement and analytical activities, approx. 80 eco-research institutes (including universities), and 45 public administrations and authorities in charge of environmental matters.

Population:

Project was added at 27.06.1996
Project was changed at 17.08.2001

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