Sustainable Pathways & Car Sharing

“Engineering the Sustainable Pathway – Challenges and Opportunities for Australian Engineers in the Sustainability Era” is the subject of a seminar in Brisbane 17 November and GoGet will be hosting “Car Share Australia: Update and Opportunities for sustainable cities” in Sydney on 1 December. 

A message from David A Hood FIEAust CPEng, Chairman, College of Environmental Engineers:

“Engineering the Sustainable Pathway – Challenges and Opportunities for Australian Engineers in the Sustainability Era

Tuesday 17 November 2009  5:30 for a 6:00 pm start 7:00pm close followed by a light supper and networking.

Hawken Auditorium, Engineering House, 447 Upper Edward St, Brisbane

Speaker: Hugh Grant, GHD

This seminar will provide an overview of global sustainability challenges and the key international and Australian responses. Hugh will identify the implications of the global sustainability agenda for Australia’s key industry sectors, including:

• Power                                     • Water

• Gas                                        • Transport

• Buildings                                • Manufacturing

• Infrastructure

His talk will outline the current and emerging responses for each sector, identifying the key challenges and opportunities for Australian Engineers to “Engineer the Sustainable Pathway”.

 Source: www.engineersaustralia.org.au

News from GoGet:

GoGet is continuing to work with councils and state governments to better integrate car sharing services into new communities, as a viable sustainable transport alternative for our growing cities.

 We will be hosting a best practice seminar and planning workshop – “Car Share Australia: Update and Opportunities for sustainable cities” in Sydney on 1 December 2009.

 The event, designed for transport and sustainability planners, policy makers and traffic engineers, will include:

•           Local and international case studies of and latest trends including electric technologies.

•           Showcase of recent carshare trials launched in partnership with councils, and the benefits to local communities

•           Exploring opportunities to better integrate carsharing schemes in new developments and existing communities.

•           Also on show will be our newly converted fully electric Toyota Prius, for an inspection under the bonnet and a test drive.

Source: www.goget.com.au

Six hundred plus cities across Europe have developed car-sharing schemes involving 50,000 people. Prototype examples are found such as Liselec in La Rochelle, and in northern California, Berlin and Japan. In Deptford there is an on-site car pooling service organized by Avis attached to a new housing development, while in Jersey electric hire cars have been introduced by Toyota.

Car sharing, not to be confused with ‘ride sharing’ or ‘car pooling,’ involves a number of people using cars that are parked centrally in dedicated car bays around the inner city. After becoming a member (much like a 6 or 12 monthly gym membership), the cars can be booked (and extended) by the hour via the web or phone. They can then be accessed via a smart card.

In Sydney there are 3 car sharing organisations operating: Flexicar (http://www.flexicar.com.au/), CharterDrive (http://www.charterdrive.com.au/) and GoGet (http://www.goget.com.au/).[1] The largest of these, GoGet, has been operating for 6 years and has over 5000 members and 200 cars located predominantly in the inner city suburbs.

Catherine Marie Simpson wrote this article – Cars, Climates and Subjectivity: Car Sharing and Resisting Hegemonic Automobile Culture? – for the M/C Journal, Vol. 12, No. 4 (2009)

Source: www.journal.media-culture.org.au