17 World Transport Policy and Practice Volume 21.1 January 2015 Broadening the market for carshare? Results of a pilot project in the Neth- erlands Karel Martens, William Sierzchula, Sander Pasman 1. Introduction Carshare is a relatively new transport service in which different individuals be- come members of a club or a commer- cial service provider and make use of a shared pool of vehicles. Over the past decade, the number of cities with car- share services has grown substantially (Huwer, 2004). Much of the growth has been incremental in nature: carshare companies have expanded the number of vehicles in response to an increase in demand, usually on a one-by-one basis. In other cases, organizations have more aggressively entered the market, placing a number of vehicles in neighborhoods previously not served, in hope of generat- ing demand for the service (Lane, 2005). In this paper, we report on a pilot project in which a different approach has been ap- plied. The pilot project consisted of a sub- stantial increase in the number of vehicles in a neighborhood with existing carshare services. The goal of this project, carried out in Nijmegen, a medium-sized city in the Netherlands, had several different as- pects. First, the project aimed to show that increased supply could generate additional demand. It assumed a signiicant level of unrealized demand for carshare services in a target area and tried to develop that potential. The pilot intentionally increased the supply above the demonstrated de- mand and expected to see a proportional membership uptake. This approach is in contrast to an incremental style of adding one vehicle when warranted by a proven increase in demand. Second, the pilot ex- plored whether it is possible to attract us- ers with a different proile than those of the existing car share users. While car- share businesses often try to bring in ear- ly adopters or members who it an estab- lished proile, expanding membership in an already-serviced area entails diversifying the target market and successfully engag- ing individuals who were not previously interested in the service. Carshare experts expect growth in nontraditional carshare markets such as among groups with lower socio-economic demographics (Shaheen & Cohen 2007). We will use the data gener- ated in this project to examine the preva- lence of low-income households as both potential and actual carshare members. Finally, this study seeks to help understand the decision process of potential carshare members as they determine whether or not to become a subscriber. Such an anal- ysis is useful for carshare operators as they seek to develop the most effective programs for attracting new members. From a scientiic perspective, the pilot project also adds to the – still limited – body of literature on carshare. There are two common approaches to carshare re- search. One uses (stated-preference) sur- veys of carshare members (e.g, Momo, 2010; Zhou, & Kockelman, 2011; Zheng et al., 2009; Millard-Ball et al., 2005; Bur- khardt & Millard-Ball, 2006). These efforts provide a picture of the demographics of existing carshare users or a proile of po- tential users in an area without carshare services. A second line of research follows pilot projects as they bring carshare serv- ice to a community (Shaheen & Rodier, 2005; Shaheen & Novick, 2005; Cerve- ro, 2003; Lane, 2005). Those studies fo- cus on the impact of the new service: the number of users, their demographic pro- iles, travel behavior, and attitudes toward transportation. This paper adds to the carshare body of literature by comparing the proile of potential members – those respondents that indicated an interest in carshare services – to the proile of new members. To this purpose, a survey was carried out among area residents at the beginning and end of the project in order to identify characteristics of both poten- tial subscribers and the households that actually became carshare members (see below). This analysis provides additional information regarding the possible diver- siication of carshare users in the future. Note that the crucial assumption of the approach in the pilot project is that car- share services can realize latent demand through increased supply and a market- ing campaign. If this assumption is in- correct or if the supposed demand does not exist, this approach will be wasteful of both time and money. On the other hand, if the project proves successful, it