* * * * * Temporary entries. Update just getting underway * * * * *

Developing a successful carshare operation in 2009 is no longer an exercise in uncertainty. But there is a great deal to be learned from experts who have been directly involved in making carshare programs and projects work as they should. Here is our 2009 inventory in-process of well known international advisors and experts whose early counsel just might make a big difference.

Jan Borghuis, Netherlands

"Over 100 years ago, the car was introduced into society and in cities. Over the past years, cities were adapted to cars. In historical city centres, a major part has been sacrificed to build motorways and parking lots. Through our vision we aim to reduce the degree in which people sacrifice city space in order to use cars. Instead, we facilitate people to use cars in a way that is compatible with the city surrounding." Jan is one of the two Greenwheels founders who first came across carsharing when they read about Berlin-based StattAuto Car Sharing. They liked the concept but were sure it could be improved upon with the help of modern ICT applications such as on-board computers, chip cards and mobile telephony. They put their first 3 cars on the Rotterdam roads in June 1995. Helped by a partnership with Dutch Railways, their success soon surpassed their German example. They took over StattAuto in 2004 and Shell Drive Deutschland in Feb. 2006. They now operate in 80 Dutch and 20 German cities.

Back to top

Eric Britton, World Carshare and the New Mobility Agenda

Eric's chosen life interest is doing something about the better management of technology as it effects ordinary people like you and him in our daily lives, which brought him early to the challenges of sustainable mobility. Over his career he has been a steady supporter and at times a prickly friend of those charged with advancing the sustainability agenda, today a disorderly, lightly considered construction site in need of deep communications, ideas, unrelenting citizen activism and lots of hard work. Since 1973 when he first looked at the Procotip project in France, he thought that carsharing was a terrific idea. He still does. His specialty is counseling cities and local partners to create the most favorable environment for carsharing as one of the important elements of a much broader program of transport reform and innovation in cities.

Back to top

Dave Brook, Carsharing US and co-founder Flexcar

Dave Brook - founded the first commercial carshare in the United States in 1998 with the launch of CarSharing Portland in Oregon. The following year he was a co-founder of Flexcar (along with fellow Editorial Board member Conrad Wagner). In 2001 he sold his company to Flexcar and continued working for them in various capacities, as Portland manager, in national development and special projects until 2003. He stays in contact with carsharing around the world and posts news about developments in carsharing and new mobility at his website Carsharing.US. Dave provides consulting services to start up and operating carsharing companies and new mobility services, using his experience as an entrepreneur and in the corporate environment. Recently, he joined two other carsharing entrepreneurs, Tracy Carroll in Seattle and Conrad Wagner in Switzerland to form an international consulting firm: Carsharing International.

Back to top

Robin Chase, USA

Robin Chase is founder and former CEO of Zipcar, which she led to become the largest and fastest-growing car-sharing company in North America. Zipcar's use of the Internet and wireless technology enables rental cars to emulate personal cars. She is also known for the evangelical virtual community she created among the members. Robin is founder and CEO of Meadow Networks, a consulting company that provides transportation solutions for the new world by applying innovative wireless technologies to solve problems of congestion, infrastructure financing, and car dependency. She graduated from Wellesley College and MIT's Sloan School of Management, and was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University.

Back to top

W. Dirk van Dijl, U.K.

Dirk van Dijl has more than twenty years experience in the transport and telematics industries. He joined the board of CityCarClub in 1999 as non executive Director. From 2003 he took an active role increasing its size dramatically and introducing sound business principles. He has led a diverse range of transport companies including rental vehicles, technology (real time passenger information), training and sales. A Dutch-American Dirk is a Director of several companies and is focused on turnaround management.

Back to top

Loic Mignotte, France

Loic Mignotte is one of the founders of Caisse Commune, the first successful carshare operation in France which got underway in 1999. His thoughts first turned to carsharing as a new mobility form when posted to the European Commission in 1994, during which time he has a chance to learn about the Stattauto operation in Bremen. He gradually built up a demonstration project in Paris bringing together the French Ministry of Transportation, the national energy agency, with the participation of Renault and the city of Paris. The pilot project demonstrated that carsharing has a future in Paris, and was helped by favorable media reactions and individual subscribers to the new service. After nine years of succesful operatoin, Loic ceded his ownership shares in June 2008 to the Transdev Group (large operator of public transport systems), and is now available for assignments as a consultant and advisor in France and Europe.

Back to top

Peter Muheim, Mobilitymanagment, Switzerland

Peter Muheim has 18 years of hands-on experience in successfully planning and managing car sharing services. Starting in 1990 as a committee member of ATG AutoTeilet, then in 1997 vice chairman of Mobility CarSharing Switzerland, in 2001 switched into operations as COO and in 2004 CEO of Mobility Support Inc., a Mobility subsidiary that helps clients to establish carsharing services in other countries. Since 2008 Muheim is working as an independent consultant for car sharing companies to help to start service and to optimize their operation. He also consults public transport companies and city authorities how to support car sharing activities.

Contact: Peter Muheim, Mobilitymanagement,
Website: http://www.mobilmanager.ch

Back to top

Susan Shaheen, United States

Susan Shaheen became interested in carsharing in the mid-1990s and focused her dissertation on CarLink in the U.S. Over the last decade, she has written over 25 reports and publications on carsharing in North America, Asia, and the world.. She has a Ph.D. in ecology from UC Davis. She is Chair of the Emerging and Innovative Public Transport Systems and Technology Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and served as the founding chair of the Carsharing TRB Subcommittee from 1999-2004. In 2007, she joined the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at UC Berkeley and is a co-director. She also holds a joint research faculty appointment at UC Davis, where she serves as a co-director for the transportation track of the Energy Efficiency Center. She was named the first Honda Distinguished Scholar in Transportationat UC Davis in 2000.

Back to top

Robert Stussi, Mobility Consultant, Portugal

Robert Stussi is a senior consultant, researcher and activist in Transport and Urban Mobility. He received his B.Sc Civil Engineering/Transportation from ETH Zürich, in 1968 and his MSc. in Urban and Regional Planning from University of British Columbia. Pro-active for soft modes, European Mobility Week, mobility management, carsharing, alternative vehicle technologies (being president of the Portuguese, European and World Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles). Networking and EU project and expert activities. Working and teaching experience in several countries, and an active proponent of carsharing and participant in carshare events internationally for some years. "Glad to assist Eric in his as usual creative effort to get people together and things going, in carsharing and elsewhere!"

Back to top

Conrad Wagner, Mobility Consultant, Switzerland

Conrad Wagner is consultant and project manager for Mobility Systems and Time-Shared Vehicles Programs, former co-president of Mobility CarSharing Switzerland and co-founder of ECS European Car Sharing. He monitors global developments in the field, helping to create and run new CarSharing and Mobility Services. In 1999-2000 served as a WestStart-Calstart consultant in California for Mobility Systems and Time-shared vehicles Services projects, and to the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans). He is co-founder and was strategic consultant of Mobility Inc. in Seattle, that later merged with Zipcar.

Back to top

Site optimized for browsing with W3C standards and best viewed with resolution of 1024 x 768
The Commons has welcomed international visitors since 3 July 1995.
Europe: 8/10 rue Joseph Bara 75006 Paris, France, Europe. T: +331 4326 1323
USA : 9440 Readcrest Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90210. T: +1 310 601-8468
No copyright © 1994-2008 The Commons Last updated on 9 November 2008