Proposal for carsharing in Ft Hood

From HelpDeskWiki

In Carsharing, one or more vehicles are shared by a number of people. It is similar to car rental, but people become members instead of customers, and the paperwork is done once, at the beginning, which saves time and overhead in the long run. Also, vehicles are usually parked relatively near to members, ideally within a short walking distance.

Carsharing works best when people can commute via public transit or walk to work readily. In the case of Ft Hood, a single shuttle bus could make a round trip within a block of most locations in the main cantonment within about half an hour. With an effective public transit system on-post, many people would only need/want a car for trips to locations which are an inconvenient distance from a bus stop. At this point, taxis and carsharing step in. Taxis are good for one-way or short-distance point-to-point trips, or trips which would take someone away from home for an extended period. Carsharing is good for everything else.

Carsharing would probably work well on Fort Hood (and other military bases), due to a number of factors, including the large concentrated younger population (in barracks and in well-defined villages), and the restricted spread and number of destinations on post, thus making commuting feasible, which in turn makes it feasible to not own a vehicle if an alternative is available.

Comparison of transit systems

               Shuttle    Taxi      Rental      Carsharing    Own
               ---------- --------- ----------- ------------- ------------------
Administrative none       none      At time     At beginning  At beginning
                                                               and annually

Payment        At time or At time   Credit card Prepaid or    Monthly/weekly
                Prepaid                          credit card   (unless paid off)

Route          Fixed      Limited   None        None          None
                           distance

Availability   Schedule   Always    May be      Always        Always
                                     restricted

Fuel,          Included   Included  Included    Included      Owner/driver
 repairs,
 insurance

Source         Nearby     Anywhere  Very        Nearby        At home
 locations                           Limited

Destination    Fixed      Anywhere  Anywhere    Anywhere      Anywhere
 locations                                       (round trip)

A minimally-workable carsharing system would need at least permission from Garrison, and would start with a car in the parking lot of initial members living in the barracks.

A fully-functional system would need, at a minimum, active cooperation from Garrison and the HOP, to add bus routes suitable for soldiers commuting to work.

To determine if carsharing would be useful for someone, first determine if taking a bus to and from work is practical. Next, determine if, there is need to keep stuff in the vehicle, such as tools for an after-hours job. Also determine if there is much need to be away from home for extended periods. Once it has been determined that carsharing is an option, estimate how much driving time and driving distance is needed annually after eliminating commuting that can be done by bus or other public transit. Figure in gas, insurance, car payments, and car maintenance to determine how much is paid per year. Compare this to the per-hour (or per-day, for long trips) and per-mile prices of the carsharing operation.