The Tama New Town district in Inagi is a residential area in the suburbs of Tokyo. Since the parking space of each house is generally limited to one vehicle, it is difficult to secure a parking spot for a second car. The use of a household's first car for commuting to work, however, means that the housewife and other family members at home do not have access to a vehicle. Yet, there are strong needs for the use of a second car because supermarkets, hospitals and other public facilities are scattered over a wide area. For these reasons, the Tama New Town district was selected as the test area for trial use of a second car-sharing system. Sharing the use of one vehicle by neighborhood residents would make it easier to secure a parking spot and it would not impose a large financial burden on them because the cost of operating the vehicle would be shared jointly. As a result, they would be able to enjoy the convenience and comfort associated with vehicle use. Additionally, sharing the use of a vehicle would also enable natural resources to be utilized effectively from the standpoint of conserving energy. The second car system for residential area use enables local residents who need a second car to share a vehicle and thereby secure convenient mobility within their local community. This vehicle-sharing system makes use of quiet-operating EVs that do not bring any pollution into a residential area. It also achieves a low operating cost through unmanned rental/return operations made possible by the use of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies.
Abstract