Helmut Melzer
It's an old-age phenomenon: for young people, owning a car and having a driving license is no longer a priority. Car sharing is therefore one of the most important future topics in mobility. "We are at the beginning of a upheaval, even though it may take longer in Austria," explains car2go CEO Alexander Hovorka in the option discussion. 3,5 million car2go users at 25 locations in eight countries speak a clear language. "Recent studies also show that this helps the ecology: In Berlin replaced a sharing car 16 vehicles, in Vienna, after all, three cars. That's always a question of supply, "says Hovorka. The latter also applies to eMobility: Wien Energie is building the first 1001 charging stations in Vienna. Hovorka: "In Amsterdam they had 1.400 stations at the start, today it's about 4.000."
Future "ride hailing"
The classic car sharing will probably remain an urban solution, there is no economic concept for the rural area due to low demand. This can change radically with autonomous driving, for example with autonomous buses, which above all save on personnel costs and thus allow economic efficiency. Keyword: ride hailing. The concept: You do not even have to look for a sharing car, you call it like a taxi. Or a bus picks up passengers where they are, via an electronically optimized route. No wonder that Uber is also experimenting with autonomous driving: The sharing car of the future is a taxi and has no driver.
Autonomous cars vs. Öffis
That can completely change the entire transport system as we know it. The question of the future is: is the public sector still involved in mobility? About "ride hailing" the entire federal territory can be covered, the offer will probably remain in private hands. Just recently, Daimler and BMW have brought all their mobile services into a joint venture. The race for the future market leadership of the overall traffic is already running.
Because one thing is certain: if you can travel comfortably and, above all, individually, you will hardly want to get on a crowded train with rigid departure times. And: every government would be happy to get rid of the costs of rail & co. The great danger here: "You have to be careful here that some groups are not excluded," warns the car2go boss. Meant: Older and socially disadvantaged people could be technically and financially overwhelmed by the new mobility system.
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
