Analyzing the Potential of User-Based Relocations on a Free-Floating Carsharing System in Cologne

Free-floating carsharing (FFCS) concepts have gained popularity in recent years and offer a maximum level of flexibility for the user, while the operator is confronted with spatiotemporal demand asymmetries. To offer an appropriate level of service in areas with high demand, the operator has to relocate the vehicles. Those transfers are often executed during the day to optimally supply the high demand during peak hours. The transfers are limited by both budget and capacity constraints. Therefore, it would be beneficial to support the fleet rebalancing by user-based relocations. In this paper, an FFCS system in Cologne is analyzed where the operator has introduced a special incentive system in August 2017. The operator created the possibility to reward customers for the relocation of cars from the peripheral to the central area with up to 20 bonus minutes. This study evaluates the effectiveness of this measure by comparing rental data sets from two periods of 6 weeks each: one period before and one period after the new incentive system was applied. Results show that idle times in the peripheral area can be reduced significantly and customers can be influenced to return a vehicle in a desired area.