Tosca Project (ATC Bologna)

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Last Update: 21/12/2001

Project funded by DG Information Society of the European Commission

Mission statement

To promote integrated car sharing concepts as an as an element of flexible and intermodal door-to-door mobility among mobility service operators (e.g. public transport, private company fleet managers, taxi operators etc.).

Background

Car sharing is a modern mobility concept, which provides the possibility to use a car at any time needed, without owning an individual vehicle. In car sharing organisations many people use few cars –only as long as needed. A well organised car sharing service may give almost the same flexibility as a private car with higher economic and ecological efficiency. Organised car-sharing completes the network of environmentally friendly means of transport (public transport, walking and cycling). It works like a mobility insurance for all cases when public transportation, walking and cycling are not adequate (at night, by trips when public transport is not available or not convenient, when bulky or heavy objects have to be transported, etc.).

Although some car sharing success stories already exist (mainly in co-operation with public transport, taxi operators etc. in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc.), the overall awareness of the benefits of car sharing as well as the organisational know-how and the currently available technologies (e.g. booking systems, access to vehicles and payment handling through smart cards) for building up a well functioning, reliable and user friendly car sharing system are not yet sufficiently deployed in Europe. More importantly most car sharing schemes are still non-technology based approaches and they do not include any substantial co-operation with other transport modes (e.g. public transport, taxis, etc.).

Objectives

TOSCA has the overall intention to promote, mainly through a technological transfer initiative to the Bologna public transport operator (ATC), the idea of an integrated mobility concept in which car sharing is considered as a complementary mobility service for the public transport customers and which is based on advanced technologies developed in European Programmes.

Within this context the TOSCA project outlines the following two objectives:

To transfer mature proven and leading edge technologies and innovative implementation/ business concepts of car sharing
To establish the integrated, technology-based car sharing concept as European Best Practice and to prepare for further take up in several European cities

Operational goals

 

To transfer innovative technological tools of the Car-Sharing scheme in the City of Bremen (supplier) to the public transport operator ATC-Bologna (user).

TOSCA will support the transfer of car sharing technology elements for setting up a car sharing organisation and communication system in Bologna from the City of Bremen, who is one of the leading cities to manage an advanced IST-based car sharing system using technology elements, partly developed in the ZEUS project. Within the TOSCA project ATC Bologna will only take up those technology elements which are functioning successfully in Bremen and which have already been validated. However, TOSCA will also facilitate future take-up developments, such as: Integrated smart card for public transport, car sharing and taxis (currently developed in INTERCEPT) or car sharing booking and information system via Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

The hardware and software elements of the Car sharing organisation and communication system (COCOS), which are provided by INVERS, shall be used for the operation of a car sharing system starting with 9 vehicles and about 100 customers. In the Bologna pilot application, COCOS will help to provide a reliable, user-friendly and efficient car sharing management by setting up an electronic car sharing booking and accounting system, transferring trip data from car sharing vehicles to the booking centre (for accounting and fleet management purposes), using contactless smart cards to control user’s access to vehicles and integrating car sharing and public transport information on the ATC homepage. Within the TOSCA project the following COCOS system elements will be implemented:

COCOS 2000 Software for administration, booking and accounting
communication system between cars and operation centre including GSM-based onboard computers for highly flexible car sharing location for each car sharing vehicle
contactless smartcards for customer identification and keyless entry
CocoWeb web server software for reservation via Internet
To develop and implement a pilot application of car sharing in the city of Bologna, based on the implementation and business concept of the car sharing system in Bremen.

Within the TOSCA project ATC Bologna has the intention to implement a car sharing pilot application with nine vehicles, placed at three car sharing locations in the city centre. To ensure a high quality of customer services and environmental friendliness, the Bologna car sharing scheme shall comply with the following emerging standards for car sharing operation:

24-hrs service and accessibility, in order to offer a real alternative to the private car
fee structure based on mileage, in order not to give an incentive to drive more than necessary ("pay as you drive" structure)
use of low emission vehicles (compliant with at least EURO III norm)

The implementation of the pilot car sharing technology elements and the corresponding business concept shall help to reach the following defined targets:

Business target
Achieve a number of 100 regular car sharing customers.
Achieve an operational efficiency above 25 % compared to a base case of non-IST-based car sharing.
Set up a car sharing operation in Bologna with at least 15 car sharing vehicles, which covers fully all operational costs within two and a half years.

Sustainibility targets
Reduce the driven kilometres of the car-sharing customers by 160.000 kilometres annually.
Increase the public transport use of the car-sharing customers by 25%.
Reduce the total number of registered vehicles in Bologna by 50 (gross reduction due to car sharing).
Gain 500 m˛ of urban space.
Reduce the CO2 emission of the car-sharing customers by 32 tons annually.

The business targets will be measured by the operational results of the car sharing system in Bologna.

The sustainability targets will be measured based on a questionnaire send out to the customers and asking for acceptance and mobility behaviour. Based on these figures – and validated in comparison with other surveys about Car-Sharing (Switzerland, Munich, Bremen etc.) – the impacts on the environment can be described in detail (e.g. won space by number of replaced vehicles, mileage reduction and energy consumption / pollution, including life-cycle analysis – similar to study carried out in the ZEUS project.

 
To develop a business and technical implementation plan for three European cities. 

The TOSCA project will enable the three European cities, who have a high car sharing market potential and are strongly committed to bring forward the idea of car sharing, to develop a car sharing technical and business implementation plan.

 

To disseminate the project results and best practice examples of car sharing.

 Dissemination activities shall help to increase awareness amongst transport policy decision makers and users on the benefits and potentials of implementing an integrated IST-based car sharing system. Dissemination activities will include the production of a best practice study, the edition of a brochure, the setting up of a car sharing web site and the organisation of three workshops.

TOSCA will organise three car sharing workshops (with about 30-50 attendees each) where results of the car sharing demonstrations in Bremen and Bologna will be presented and the transferability of these examples to other European cities will be discussed. Dissemination activities will also include the production of a car sharing best practice study, the edition of a project brochure and the setting up of a car sharing best practice web page, hosted by ATC. All relevant project information will be published, project results will be updated regularly, and links to other car sharing trials, operators and technology suppliers will be maintained.

 

 

Developed by ATC Bologna  -    15/12/2000

Last Update: 21/12/2001