From Automobility to (Auto)mobility: Studies of Car-Sharing Practices in Sustainability Transitions of Mobility Systems

Abstract

This doctoral thesis investigates the role of practices in sustainability transitions. It draws on the multi-level perspective from transition literature and social practice approaches to analyze car-sharing practices and discuss their role in transitions to sustainable mobility. The objective of the thesis is to understand how car sharing relates to and affects current mobility systems. The research material consists of four empirical studies of car-sharing practices, plus a review of literature on practices in transition studies. Qualitative methods, with data from stakeholder workshops and household interviews in Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands, and interviews with providers in Norway, are used for the studies. The findings suggest that car sharing should be treated as Access-Based Car use (ABC), going beyond ‘sharing-economy concepts’. Car-sharing contributes to reconfiguring the automobility system into an (auto) mobility system by providing access to cars, whereby car use becomes an occasional practice rather than a daily one. The thesis proposes a ‘Practice Innovation System’ PIS approach for future research.