Transport and Covid-19: responses and resources

Shared Mobility in Auckland Could Halve Vehicle CO2 Emissions

Vehicle CO2 emissions and traffic congestion in Auckland would fall by around 50% if all of today’s private car trips were instead provided by shared mobility services.

This is the result of a study carried out by the  International Transport Forum, a Paris-based intergovernmental organisation and policy think tank, on how new types of shared mobility service could impact New Zealand’s largest city.

The study is based on a simulation of the more than 4.5 million trips undertaken on an average weekday by 1.3 million inhabitants in the most densely populated part of Auckland region.

Replacing half of all private car trips with rides in shared vehicles would deliver a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions and reduce congestion by 17%. If one in five private car trips were taken over by shared mobility services, CO2 emissions would still be c 15% less and congestion be reduced by c. 8%.

Shared mobility makes jobs and services more easily accessible, especially in areas that currently have a low frequency of public transport services: The simulation of full-scale implementation of shared mobility improved the access to jobs by a factor of more than three.

A survey and focus group conducted for the study in Auckland showed that citizens are willing to share vehicles as long as seating is guaranteed. Cost of the service is the main factor affecting people’s preferences. Of survey respondents, 23% indicated they would likely shift to shared mobility. This figure was 30% among participants of the focus group who had received a briefing on shared mobility options.

The report’s recommendations include, inter alia:

  • Consider integrating shared mobility services into Auckland’s existing transport offer 
  • Use shared services as feeder service for train, ferry and bus rapid transit services to increase use of public transport
  • Ensure shared mobility services are provided in a large enough area of Auckland to achieve sufficient scale
  • Target shared mobility services for potential early adopters

The data used in the simulations was provided by New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport, Auckland Transport and the Auckland Forecasting Centre.

The full report is available at https://www.itf-oecd.org/shared-mobility-simulations-auckland

Previous reports on shared mobility for cities from the ITF:

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