NINA Neighbourhood car sharing

By project PROXIMITIES

Published on 17 March 2025

Italy

Emilia-Romagna

Reggio Emilia

About this good practice

Associative car sharing involves the presence of an association and actively engages member users, who contribute to the management and organisation. This practice fits perfectly in an overall vision of the city of proximity, as it combines the promotion of sustainable mobility, easier access to services, and the strengthening of social relations within neighbourhoods.
Through a co-design process directly involving citizens, the rules for using the shared car were established. Citizens were able to define personalised rules for each of the involved neighbourhoods, including the tariff structure. The relevant associations and their roles were identified, not only acting as a bridge between different actors in the experiment but also supporting the social, environmental, and community dimensions. The actors in the neighbourhood associative car sharing model being tested in Reggio Emilia are:
- Citizens, divided into pilot groups, who are both the designers of the car management model and the users
- Associations (Cultural Association Cinqueminuti, Community Center Rosta Nuova, APS Sports Association), promoting community and sharing values and serve as the link between citizens and other stakeholders
- The Municipality, supporting the neighbourhood car sharing experiment and providing financial backing for the associations.
- Private partners, who provide the tools to concretely establish the neighbourhood car sharing service (electric cars, recharging columns..)

Expert opinion

European cities and regions face the dual challenge of reducing both carbon emissions, and the number of vehicles on the road. More cars not only produce more emissions, but also take up more public space, and cause increased congestion which has an economic impact from time lost to inactivity. These challenges will not be overcome by only introducing low-carbon vehicles such as electric cars, which can reduce emissions but which neither reduce the impact of congestion and land-use, nor overcome inequality. One proven solution, however, is that of shared mobility, by which individuals can gain access to mobility services without owning a vehicle. Shared mobility has several benefits for regions including reduced traffic congestion, lower environmental impact, reduced space requirements for parking. reduced costs for drivers and improved accessibility. This excellent good practice shows how municipalities can co-design their car sharing process with citizens directly. The service is a great success, and citizens ask the city to enlarge it. This good practice can be of great inspiration to other regions who wish to include car sharing in their offer.

Magda Michaliková

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

58,000 € for feasibility study, participatory planning and one-year experimentation in two pilot neighborhoods (including provision of 2 electric cars and app for booking and using the cars).

Evidence of success

The neighbourhood car sharing experiment began on 15/07/2024 in 2 neighbourhoods: historic centre and a peripheral neighbourhood in the south of the city. To date, there are 10 registered users, and the service satisfaction is high. The Administration has received many requests to expand the service. The approach proved successful in offering an innovative approach to service provision which also promotes a responsible use of shared resources and the active participation of the community.

Potential for learning or transfer

The neighbourhood car sharing model is exportable since it is based on a governance model that engages stakeholders who are active in all territories.
Moreover, this model is adaptable to different contexts: urban and peri-urban contexts where public transportation is limited and private cars are necessary to reach essential services, but also rural and low population density areas, for an efficient vehicle access.
Additionally, the customization of the shared car usage regulations allows the model to be adapted to the needs of citizens in cities and neighbourhoods of different dimensions and service provision.