Groups urge minister to fund car-sharing in rural Denmark

Landdistrikternes Fællesråd and DI Transport are calling for state funding to help municipalities and regions expand car-sharing in rural areas, DR reports.

The organisations say a dedicated state fund should be included in next year’s budget after a new analysis by the car-sharing platform Nabogo showed strong growth in several parts of Denmark.

“We clearly expect funding to be allocated to promote car-sharing,” said Steffen Damsgaard, chair of Landdistrikternes Fællesråd. He said the initiative was particularly relevant because public transport in many rural areas had deteriorated in recent years.

SF proposed allocating 50 million kroner a year for five years to support car-sharing in its budget proposal last year, when the party was in opposition.

According to an expert committee under the Ministry of Transport, the number of scheduled public transport service hours in rural areas has fallen by 13.4 per cent since 2016. Some 180,000 people live more than 2.8 kilometres from the nearest bus stop.

“Car-sharing has potential in rural areas. It is difficult to maintain a widely distributed public transport network, so we support a combination of fixed bus routes and more flexible solutions such as car-sharing,” Damsgaard said.

Nabogo currently has agreements with slightly more than 20 municipalities and regions. The company is also in talks with municipalities that want to promote car-sharing but lack the funding to do so.

DI Transport is calling for a state fund of 30 million kroner. Its industry director, Hakon Iversen, said the money could quickly improve mobility for young people, commuters and businesses in areas with limited transport options.

“We also need to invest in buses and trains, but long-term plans must not prevent action here and now,” Iversen said.

The Central Denmark Region has just completed a two-year car-sharing trial and considers it a success. Drivers received 10 kroner per passenger for journeys longer than 10 kilometres.

An evaluation found that bus passenger numbers had fallen more on routes near schools where car-sharing was most widespread than on other routes in the region.

Damsgaard said car-sharing could partly take passengers from existing public transport, but could also encourage public transport use in some situations, such as when people car-share in one direction and take the bus home.

Earlier this summer, the government allocated 100 million kroner to strengthen public transport in rural areas. The money will go to transport companies and municipalities, which will be able to apply in the autumn for projects such as on-demand buses and community buses driven by volunteers.

Signe Munk, the SF minister for urban, rural and transport affairs, has launched an analysis of new transport options in rural areas. She declined an interview and did not say whether she would create a state car-sharing fund.

In a written statement, Munk said more flexible public transport solutions were needed, particularly outside the major cities. The analysis will examine how new solutions can be introduced to make it easier for people in sparsely populated areas to travel to and from their daily activities.