CarShare Vermont used UPWP funding to support our efforts to better meet the transportation needs of households with lower incomes by conducting outreach about the expansion of our carsharing service at four affordable housing developments in the Burlington area, and to promote awareness about our MobilityShare membership, which provides free memberships and subsidized driving rates to residents of the properties (and to all income eligible households in the community). This study helped inform an MTI grant awarded by the Vermont Agency of Transportation in late 2020 to introduce electric carsharing onsite at the affordable housing sites to improve access to both our service and to EVs, recognizing that EV access through ownership may be impossible or undesired for many individuals and households.

This report details CarShare Vermont’s key findings and recommendations for effectively integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into shared fleets following a research-turned-pilot project. CCRPC funding supported research and planning, then CarShare Vermont self-funded a project to pilot our first EV with in-kind support from the Burlington Electric Department. The report provides more than 12 months of data about how the EV was used and by whom, its environmental impacts, and the financial and operational implications of converting to an electric fleet, as well as our recommendations for policies that will better support the integration of EVs into carsharing systems.

It’s not often that carsharing is seen as a potential solution for concerns about increasing housing cost burdens. Hidden vehicle and parking costs can contribute to an overall higher cost of living--housing and transportation. This report highlights the role that transportation and parking costs play in housing affordability and describes the role of CarShare VT in changes to Burlington’s development ordinances and new directions for the organization.

In Vermont, transportation accounts for over half of all green house gas emissions. Driving less is arguably one of the most impactful and immediate personal changes that Vermonters can make to reduce their emissions but a number of factors make it challenging for Vermonters to make this important connection and ultimately change their transportation behaviors. CarShare Vermont designed a community-based social marketing campaign to help people better understand the impact of their personal transportation choices on climate change, and to demonstrate how relatively modest shifts in transportation habits can meaningfully combat climate change. More specifically, we wanted to showcase how utilizing a service like CarShare Vermont allows people to own fewer cars and consequently drive less, making greenhouse gas emissions reductions easier to sustain over the long-term. Learn more at http://www.carsharevt.org/stand-up-to-climatechange/.

MobilityShare was launched in 2012 by CarShare Vermont with significant funding from a private foundation. The primary goal in developing this program was to improve the accessibility and equity of our local transportation system by making our carsharing service more available to low-income residents. In 2015 CarShare Vermont received a UPWP grant to review, modify, and relaunch MobilityShare program. This report outlines a brief history of the program and changes to streamline and revitalize it.