Our mobility is in transition. The coming years, our modes of transportation will become electric, shared and compact. Further ahead of us, our mobility will likely become autonomous.
This is a wakeup call for citizens and civil servants around the world: We can and should own this transition and this future, together.
- Electric
To reduce climate change and improve the air quality in our cities, citizens and governments around the world are transitioning from fossil fuel powered vehicles to electric vehicles.
- Shared
Because individually owned vehicles are standing idle most of the time, we can make better use of less vehicles by sharing the vehicles we use. In addition freeing up parking space for other purposes.
- Compact
Especially in urban areas, bulky cars are replaced by smaller cars and other modes of transport like bicycles and scooters. At the same time governments are improving and promoting public transport as an alternative to cars.
- Autonomous
If our vehicles become autonomous, we can simply ask a vehicle to come and pick us up when and where we want. This means vehicles could be used at extremely high efficiency and parking space doesn’t have to be in front of our home or office anymore. Essentially all our transport could become a sort of ‘individual public transport’.
As a citizen and as a civil servant, you can either wait for companies to turn this future into our new reality, or we can take ownership of this major transition and make sure the future of our mobility serves our needs.
The Uberisation of our mobility?
The mobility transition is currently owned by companies. Uber and other companies are offering us access to mobility with a great user experience. It’s tempting to simply ride along.
From ownership to access?
Uber is taking over market share from both personal vehicle ownership and public transport and aims to become the ubiquitous mobility company of the future. We are handing over control of our access to mobility to a few companies that owe responsibility to their shareholders and not to us, our communities and our governments. Governments and citizens around the world are already experiencing how companies like Uber aren’t in it for the social impact, to state it mildly.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
From individual ownership to co-ownership
A far better alternative is to use the mobility transitions to turn individual vehicle ownership into co-ownership. We can co-own the shared compact electric autonomous vehicles of tomorrow. And we should, if we care about our access to mobility.
If we can own a car today, we can co-own our mobility tomorrow.
Mobility cooperatives
And the great news is: Citizens around the world are starting grassroots cooperative initiatives, sharing and co-owning the vehicles they use. Some examples:
Grow the movement
These and hundreds of other mobility cooperatives show it’s possible at both small and large scale. But it’s time to step up our game. Although we lack Uber’s PR and marketing budget, we should join forces as citizens and civil servants to grow this movement together.
Own the future, start a mobility cooperative
How to start a mobility cooperative?
Guidelines for starting a mobility cooperative:
- How To Start A Car Sharing Coop by Transition US
- Resources on starting a community car club (scroll down) by CoMoUK
- Getting introduced to starting a platform coop by Unfound
- Support to starting and growing a coop by The Hive (for UK based coops)
Tools for mobility cooperatives
- Open source bike sharing system
- Electric carsharing services for citizens energy communities by The Mobility Factory
- Zemtu: carsharing software (used by Caruso from Austria)
Mobility cooperatives
Austria:
- Caruso Carsharing (cars in Voralberg: 30 cars)
- E-Carsharing Alpenvorland (electric cars in region Alpenvorland: 6 cars)
- Family of Power (electric cars in Kärnten, Salzburg en Steiermark: 31 cars)
- more coops (and other service prodivers) from Austria can be found on the website mobil-am-land.at.
Belgium:
- Partago (electric cars in Belgium: 45 cars, 563 members, since 2015)
Canada:
- Coast Car Co-op (cars in Sunshine Coast: 5 cars)
- Kootenay Carshare Co-op (cars in Kootenay: 20+ cars, 325 members, since 2001)
- Modo (cars in Vancouver: 700 cars, 22.000 members)
- Options (cars in Toronto: 9 cars, 500 members, since 2009)
- Peg City Car Co-op (cars in Winnipeg: 33 cars, 1.000 members, since 2011)
- Regina Car Share Co-operative (cars in Regina: 2 cars)
- Saskatoon CarShare Co-operative (cars in Saskatoon: 7 cars)
Germany:
- Allerauto (electric cars in Dörverden-Westen: 5 cars)
- AmAG (cars in Amerang: 4 cars, 110 members, since 2006)
- AUTOparat Coburg
- AutoTeilen in Halberstadt
- Autoteilen Landshut (cars in Landshut: 11 cars, 160 members, since 1993)
- Auto-Teiler Grasbrunn (cars in Grasbrunn)
- Bad Endorfer AutoTeiler (cars in Bad Endorf: 2 cars, 15 members, since 2015)
- BayreuthMobil (cars in Bayreuth: since 1993)
- BeiAnrufAuto (cars in Augsburg: 16 cars, 11 stations, 280 members, since 2001)
- BodenseeMobil (cars in Friedrichshafen en surroundings: 29 cars)
- BürgerEnergie Rhein-Sieg (electric cars in Siegburg: 1 car)
- Bürger-für-Bürger-Energie (electric cars in Neunkirchen: 1 car)
- Carsharing Anzing (cars in Anzing)
- Car-Sharing Aurich (cars in Aurich: 3 cars, 40 users)
- CarSharing Breisach-Ihringen (cars in Breisach and Ihringen: 5 cars)
- CarSharing Erding (cars in Erding: 3 cars)
- Carsharing Kaufbeuren (cars in Kaufbeuren: 5 cars)
- Carsharing Passau (cars in Passau: 6 cars)
- CarSharing Pfaffenwinkel (cars in Weilheim: 24 cars, 300 users, since 2000)
- CarSharing Renningen (cars in Renningen: 19 cars)
- Carsharing Traunstein (cars in Traunstein: 5 cars)
- Carsharing Wendlingen (cars in Wendlingen: 4 cars)
- Car-Sharing ZweiTälerLand (cars in Waldkirch: 5 cars, 113 members, since 1992)
- CarSharing-Erlangen (cars in Erlangen: 9 cars, 483 members, since 2010)
- Carsharing-Union Markt Schwaben
- Colectivo! Carsharing (cars in Heidelsheim: cars, since 2010)
- Die Stromer (electric cars in Zweiflingen-Orendelsall: 1 car)
- Dock71 Carsharing (cars in Hamburg)
- Dörpsmobil (electric cars in Linnau, Medelby en Wallsbul: 3 cars)
- Ebersberger Autoteiler (cars in Ebersberg: 4 cars, 42 members, since 1997)
- Egomobil (electric cars in Strüth: 2 cars, since 2017)
- Energieverein Aus Gutem Grund
- Generationen-Bus-Seinsheim (bus in Seinsheim)
- Glonner Autoteiler (cars in Glonn: 2 cars)
- Grafinger Auto-Teiler (cars in Grafing: 13 cars, 195 members, since 1995)
- Haiminger-Auto-Teiler (cars in Haiming)
- Immer Mobil (cars in Neubiberg: 2 cars)
- Königsbrunner Auto-Teiler (cars in Königsbrunn: 6 cars, since 2012)
- Kulturring Störmede (2 cars in Geseke)
- Markt Kirchseeoner Auto-Teiler (cars in Kirchseeon)
- meiaudo (cars in Bamberg: 28 cars, 600 members, since 1992)
- Mobile Baar (cars in Donaueschingen: 5 cars)
- Mobiles teilen in Königsdorf (cars in Frechen: 3 cars)
- MOBIL-Gemeinschaft Emmendingen (cars in Emmendingen: 11 cars)
- Ökostadt Koblenz (cars in Koblenz: 10 cars)
- Ökostadt Memmingen (cars in Memmingen: 1 car)
- PATI (cars in Poing: 2 cars)
- RaBEmobil (electric cars in Wackernheim: 1 car)
- Regional Versorgt (cars in Uffenheim: 1 car)
- Schöner mobil (cars in Cölbe-Schönstadt)
- StadtTeilAuto Freising (cars in Freising: 20 cars)
- StadtTeilAuto Schleißheim (cars in Schleißheim: 2 cars)
- StattAuto (cars in Lübeck, Kiel and surroundings: 200 cars, 80 locations, since 1991)
- Statt-Auto Herdecke (cars in Herdecke: 4 cars, since 2007)
- STATTAUTO Isarwinkel (cars in Bad Toelz: 3 cars)
- Taubermobil Carsharing (cars in Bad Mergentheim: 3 cars, since 2017)
- teilAuto Biberach (cars in Biberach: 10 cars, sinds 1995)
- teilAuto Hall (cars in Hall: 7 cars)
- teilAuto Neckar-Alb (cars in Tübingen: 131 cars)
- Teilauto Tonndorf (cars in Tonndorf)
- UrStrom Mobil (electric cars in Mainz: 2 cars)
- Vaterstettener Auto-Teiler (cars in Vaterstetten: 19 cars, since 2002)
- VCD Aschaffenburg-Miltenberg (cars in Aschaffenburg: 9 cars, since 1998)
- Wasserburger Autoteiler (cars in Forsting: 3 cars)
- WeilerMobil (electric vehicles in Pfalzgrafenweiler: 7 cars and 6 bikes)
- Wulfsdorfer CarSharing
- Zornedinger Auto-Teiler (cars in Zorneding: 4 cars)
The Netherlands:
- Elektrip (electric cars in Lochem: 12 cars)
- Mobiliteit VanOns (elektric cars in Northern provinces, planning a launch)
- Stichting Duurzaam Waterland (elektric cars in Waterland: 5 cars, 4 locations)
- Witkar (compact electric vehicles in Amsterdam: 25 vehicles, 4.000 members, 1974 – 1986, planning a relaunch)
Spain:
- AlternaCoop (electric cars in Valencia, since 2017)
- Conecta Movel (electric cars in Madrid, based on local groups)
- Ecotxe (electric cars on Mallorca: 2 cars, since 2016)
- Electric Sun Mobility (electric cars in Madrid, concept phase)
- Som Mobilitat (electric cars in Calatonia: 10+ cars, since 2016)
Switzerland:
- Mobility Car Sharing (cars and more in Switzerland: 3.000 cars, 1.500 locations, 200 scooters, 180.000 members, since 1987)
United Kingdom:
- Bristol Ferry Boats (ferry service in Bristol: 6 boats, 900 members, since 2013)
- Co-bikes (electric bikes in Exeter: 100 bikes, 7 stations)
- Co-cars (cars in South-West England: 27 cars, since 2007)
- E-cocars (cars in Totnes: 3 cars)
- GO-OP (train service from Taunton to Nuneaton, funding phase)
- Harwich Connexions (bus service in Harwich area, Essex: 6 busses, since 2003)
- Hour Car (cars in upper Calder Valley: 5 cars, 60 members, since 2004)
- LEAP Car Club (cars in Lochwinnoch: 4 cars, 3 locations)
- Llani Car Club (cars: 2 cars, 20 members, since 2007)
- Malvern Hills Car Clubs (cars in Malvern Hills: 15 cars)
- Metacarpool (cars in Chapeltown)
- Moorcar (cars in Devon)
- Moray Carshare (cars in Forres, Kinloss and Findhorn: 18 cars, 180 members, since 2007)
- Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust Car Club (cars: 1 car)
- St James and Bartonsham Car Club (cars: 4 cars)
- West Wheels (cars in Mallaig: 3 cars)
Support Wekar
The goal of this website is to stimulate people to start a mobility cooperative by explaining why it’s important and providing examples and tools to make it happen. Do you want to grow the movement by making this website better or translating it into your local language?
