Car2go announced this week that it will begin a pilot program through which drivers can earn drive-time credits by taking online driving safety courses. In a statement, the company said that a random selection of members in New York City and Washington, D.C., will be able to take the courses at first, and that the pilot may later be opened to other drivers. The program, and car2go’s move to join the Road to Zero Coalition, are aspects of its recently announced support for Vision Zero programs.
The move is notable, because as a transportation option that can help reduce car ownership and take cars off the road, carsharing services have a responsibility to ensure that their cars support a healthy ecosystem of other options. For (a more visible) example, many Portland car2go cars sport bike racks, enabling users to switch between options seamlessly. Likewise, companies can take steps to support walking, biking, and transit by addressing the safety issues – namely, dangerous driving behaviors – that create barriers to those modes.
In a post from 2015, Shin-pei Tsay noted that private mobility providers – in her example, specifically ride-hailing companies like Lyft – have a role to play in supporting the goals of Vision Zero.
Ride-sourcing companies can also train their drivers to drive in a manner more conducive to livable streets, such as keeping to speed limits and yielding to pedestrians and cyclists. … Ride-sourcing companies can incentivize drivers to drive in a way in which the street space is shared, not dominated, by their vehicles.
Though not a ride-hailing company, car2go is following that incentive model with its new safety initiative. (This might be especially significant, as Tsay noted in her post that car2go’s pricing model, which charges drivers by the minute, might itself already be working as an opposite incentive, giving users a reason to drive faster.) Just how the safety incentive pays off will be something to watch, as the company will evaluate the efficacy of the pilot in the future and will weigh whether to expand it to more drivers in other cities.
Photo: A Seattle car2go driver blocks a crosswalk, creating a potentially dangerous situation for people crossing (SounderBruce, Flickr, Creative Commons).
Ed.: Post has been updated to reflect car2go’s official Vision Zero policy.