Shared cars to boost sharing economy?

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: Car-sharing services are emerging in cities such as Beijing. But is this a good solution to the road congestion problem? Four experts share their views with China Daily's Wu Zheyu. Excerpts follow:

Traffic jams are a different ball game

Li Hongchang, an associate professor at the School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University [Photo/China Daily]

The car-sharing business will not help reduce traffic jams. Those who say it would assume that the availability of shared vehicles will diminish people's urge to buy cars, which in turn will reduce the number of vehicles on the road. These people also ignore the fact that a majority of those using car-sharing services today were earlier using public transport to commute. Which means the number of vehicles on the road has not reduced.

The car-sharing service therefore should not be used to commute within city limits. It is, however, apt for driving to and from scenic spots and rural areas where public transport service could be irregular and erratic.