How can car-sharing help to save the planet? (bonus: most popular car sharing apps review)
September 27, 2021
min. read
Climate changes this summer have warned us as never before. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation account for about 29 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions alone, making it the largest contributor of U.S. GHG emissions. It is not easy to refuse the comfort that car ownership provides. However, nowadays you have the option of sharing cars and only using them when necessary.
At first glance, owning a car looks convenient, and indeed it is in terms of driving. But it also means constant costs and the loss of value of your property - your vehicle. Experts say that a car loses between 15% and 20% of its value each year.
Car owning vs car sharing
What else do car owners pay for? Constant investments have to be made in repairs and maintenance, for example, when washing the car or changing the oil and filling it with gas, or charging in the case of an electric vehicle. In addition, adjustments to the weather conditions are mandatory, for example, changing tires before the winter and summer seasons. The car should have insurance while in traffic and you should also cover parking costs not to mention the fact that you have to have places to park your car that could be easily reached from home, as well as from the office.
You can avoid all those troubles when choosing a ride-sharing option - your car will always be full of gas or charged, clean, and with the equipment that is adjusted to the season. No additional costs - just pay for your ride and leave the car where it is convenient for you. Moreover, if you need a bigger car for the ride with the whole family, you can have it! Just choose a SUV closer to you with the car-sharing option. And pay less for a small car if you are riding alone.
Car sharing is also more convenient than renting a car. Renting invariably means planning, scheduling, and getting to the parking lot for rented cars. Renting sometimes also involves hidden costs. Car-sharing is easier - if the car is not available at the moment at the closest to your location, look around in the app and you will definitely find a spot, where a car is available near you.
Game changer
Nearly 90% of Americans own cars. Unfortunately, this means not only a convenience for car owners but also traffic jams and pollution. And according to The Guardian, this quantity of cars costs the economy $124bn. So car-sharing has been seen as a real game-changer. According to a Berkeley study, one car for sharing can replace 7 to 11 privately owned vehicles. Thus cities can become greener not only in the context of reduced levels of air pollution, but also significantly reduced parking lots. Moreover, this means less wear on roads as fewer cars drives around the streets.
Fine, but what is the real advantage, when there are still a lot of cars on the street? How does this actually help to save the planet? Well, with car-sharing there still will be fewer cars on streets and in traffic. Car-sharing providers are thinking of their business so they will always choose the most fuel-efficient cars. Whenever possible, electric cars are going to be included in their fleet. Electric cars have zero emissions. Also, more small cars are going to be available as people who are driving alone don't need big cars or ones that consume a lot of fuel. This means less air pollution. And the air is also less polluted during the manufacturing process because 1/5 of emissions released in a car’s lifetime come from its production. This amount is even smaller with electric cars as they are smaller themselves so they cause less greenhouse gas emissions in production.
Of course, there are also some downsides to switching to car sharing. For example, manufacturers cannot be happy with smaller demand. A lot of factory workers and their families depend on the demand and income from car production. In addition, fewer public transport users mean less income for public transport companies.
Struggles for car-sharing businesses
There are still quite a lot of struggles for car-sharing business owners. For example, experts emphasize that car sharing is beneficial only in areas with the appropriate population density. In other words, there should be a demand for the service. The biggest challenge of the car-sharing business is to survive in small villages where people usually travel large distances to work and it is more convenient and probably even cheaper for them to have their own cars.
The other issue worth mentioning, which is a challenge faced by big cities is parking lots. There should be enough free spaces in the city to park cars. Especially in high-density areas. If this possibility is not available and users have to travel long distances from the parking lot to the office or house, users will soon lose interest in the service.
What other obstacles should car-sharing business owners consider? Demand for cars via sharing is not constant. There are peak hours that are hard to manage due to the limited amount of vehicles, while users easily get upset if a car is not available when they need it. In addition, people want to use car-sharing across as wide a geographical area as possible. This creates challenges for car-sharing business owners, as there should be enough users all around, who are willing to use the service.
Best car-sharing apps according to Google Play and App Store
● Share Now (car2go & DriveNow)
App Store Rating: 4.8/5
Google Play Rating: 4.4/5
There is no monthly or membership fee - users pay while using the service. Rates depend on vehicle and location and gas is included in the price so there is no need to refuel. There is a 24-hour limit on rental time or the option to select the trip package while indicating the length of the trip. No reservations are required - pick up and drop off the vehicle anywhere within the area of operation.
● Zipcar
App Store Rating: 4.5/5
Google Play Rating: 3.8/5
Zipcar charges $7 per month or a $70 per year membership fee. There is also a one-time $25 application fee. Car sharing service costs $10 per hour or $82 a day. It is possible to rent a car for hours or days however there are a few plans available. Prices vary depending on location. Gas, insurance, and 180 miles are included in the price.
● Getaround
App Store Rating: 4.7/5
Google Play Rating: 3.7/5
This app has a $99 hardware fee. After three months, a $20 per month subscription fee kicks in. Daily rental rates can range from $20 to $80 depending on vehicle quality and insurance is included in the price. A variety of privately-owned cars, vans, and trucks are available. It is possible to rent them by day or hours. Drivers pay for gas and replace what they have used.
● Turo
App Store Rating: 4.8/5
Google Play Rating: 4.9/5
Cars are available on the app anywhere from $20 to $100 depending on vehicle quality and only daily rentals are possible. It has classic and specialty vehicles. Drivers pay for gas and must replace what they have used. Cars can also be delivered to a location if required.
You can take part in the car-sharing business as a user, as well as a car-sharing business owner. If you want to create your own platform, this is what you have to consider and keep in mind.
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Blog
Lime improved GPS. But parking compliance may need more than that
Lime improved GPS from 12m to ~1.5m accuracy - a big step forward for micromobility. 🚀 But parking compliance isn’t just about knowing where a vehicle is - it’s about proving it’s parked correctly. Real-world pilots (like Prague) show that physical verification (e.g. Bluetooth beacons) can significantly outperform GPS when it comes to actual compliance.
March 25, 2026
min. read
Lime just raised the bar for GPS-based parking compliance. But the bigger question is this: when cities want verified parking, is better GPS enough, or do operators need physical proof? That question matters more than ever.
Lime’s new LimeBike rollout in the UK comes with a major location upgrade. Lime says its new bikes can locate themselves to within 1.5 metres, a significant improvement from the roughly 12.3 metres typical in dense urban environments (this means that based on GPS data, a vehicle can be up to 12 meters farther or closer than the reported GPS location. Now this error is just 1.5 meters). That is real progress.
Lime’s upgrade is a meaningful step forward for GPS-based positioning. At the same time, cities are increasingly looking beyond positioning accuracy toward verifiable parking compliance.
Why this matters
Cities are becoming much less tolerant of parking disorder. In Kensington & Chelsea, the council seized 1,000 rental e-bikes by November 2025 and collected more than £81,000 in charges from operators.
That is the real backdrop for every operator today:
- stricter enforcement
- more political pressure
- less room for ambiguity
So yes, better GPS is good news. But it does not automatically mean cities will see parking as “solved.” A vehicle may be near a bay, beside a bay, or slightly outside it. In dense urban areas, that difference matters. Traditional GPS struggles there because of building interference, blocked satellite visibility, and signal reflections.
So the strategic question is no longer:
“Can we improve GPS?”
It is:
“What kind of system gives cities enough confidence to enforce parking rules fairly and consistently?”
What the Prague pilot showed
A European Commission-backed pilot in Prague tested a different approach: Bluetooth-based parking verification.
Across 25 parking locations and 989 parking events, the results were clear:
- 90.6% success rate for SparkPark (Bluetooth infrastructure)
- 38.4% success rate for GPS/GNSS positioning
- Technology readiness advanced from TRL 6 to 8/9
When the goal is verified parking inside a defined zone, infrastructure-based validation can significantly outperform vehicle-only (GPS) positioning.
GPS improvement vs physical verification
Lime’s move shows how far vehicle-side intelligence is improving. SparkPark points to a different model: verify the parking zone itself.
That distinction matters.
- GPS estimates where the vehicle is
- Infrastructure confirms whether it is correctly parked
Those are fundamentally different approach.
Why cities may prefer the second path
One of the key findings from the Prague pilot is not just technical - it is institutional. Cities often rely on operator-provided data to assess compliance. That creates a trust gap. What cities increasingly want:
- independent verification
- reliable compliance data
- less reliance on operator-reported positioning
This is why the conversation is shifting from “better accuracy” → “verifiable proof.”
What this means for ATOM Mobility partners
Parking compliance is becoming more important than ever:
- permit approvals
- permit renewals
- daily operational performance
Operators who can demonstrate verifiable compliance may have a clear advantage.
With ATOM Mobility, partners can explore:
- integration-ready compliance workflows as ATOM Mobility already implemented bluetooth-based parking verification together with SparkPark
- futher support for infrastructure-based validation like SparkPark
- 10x faster deployment without full fleet replacement
Instead of waiting for hardware cycles, operators can move faster and adapt to changing city expectations.
Lime deserves credit for pushing GPS accuracy forward. It is a meaningful step for the industry. But the Prague pilot highlights something equally important:
Micromobility parking may not be solved by better positioning alone. It may also require verification.
Not:
“Where is the vehicle likely parked?”
But:
“Can this parking event be verified with confidence?”
Final thought?
The future of parking compliance is likely evolving across two complementary paths:
Path 1: improve GPS accuracy
Path 2: implement physical verification
The first makes parking smarter. The second makes it more reliable and verifiable.
And in regulated urban mobility, confidence and trust often matter as much as precision.
Want to explore how ATOM Mobility can support stricter parking compliance workflows and how SparkPark technology works alongside the ATOM Mobility platform? Get in touch with our team to discuss integration options and city-facing parking control setups.
Sources:
Lime GPS upgrade announcement:
https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/micromobility/new-lime-bike-upgrade-to-hit-uk-streets-this-month-12568
West Midlands LimeBike rollout:
https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/new-limebike-to-launch-in-west-midlands/
Kensington & Chelsea enforcement data:
https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/newsroom/1000-e-bikes-seized-borough
Prague SparkPark pilot (EIT Urban Mobility):
https://marketplace.eiturbanmobility.eu/best-practices/high-precision-parking-for-shared-micromobility-in-prague
SparkPark:
https://sparkpark.no
Blog
ATOM Connect 2026: Bringing the shared micromobility industry together
The micromobility industry doesn’t need another generic mobility conference. 🚫🎤 It needs real conversations between operators who are actually in the field. ⚙️ That’s exactly what ATOM Connect 2026 is built for. 🎯🤝
February 25, 2026
min. read
The shared mobility industry is evolving rapidly. Operators are navigating scaling challenges, regulatory complexity, hardware decisions, fleet optimization, and new integration models, all while aiming for sustainable growth.
That’s exactly why ATOM Mobility is organizing ATOM Connect 2026.
Our previous edition of ATOM Connect brought together professionals from the car sharing and rental industry for focused, high-quality discussions and networking. This year, we are narrowing the focus and dedicating the entire event to one fast-moving segment of the industry: shared micromobility.
ATOM Connect 2026 is designed specifically for operators, partners, and decision-makers working in shared micromobility. It is not a broad mobility conference or a public exhibition. It is a curated space for industry professionals to exchange practical experience, insights, and lessons learned.
On May 14th, 2026 in Riga, we will once again bring the community together, this time with a clear focus on micromobility.
What to expect
This year’s agenda will address the real operational and strategic questions shaping shared micromobility today:
- Scaling fleets sustainably
- Multi-vehicle operations beyond scooters
- Regulatory cooperation and long-term city partnerships
- Data-driven fleet optimization
- MaaS integration and ecosystem collaboration
- Marketing and automation for growth
As usual, we aim to host both local and international operators from smaller, fast-growing fleets to established large-scale players alongside hardware providers and ecosystem partners.
On stage, you’ll hear from leading shared mobility companies - including Segway on hardware partnerships, Umob on MaaS integration, Anadue on data-driven fleet intelligence, Elerent on multi-vehicle operational realities and more insightful discussions.
The goal is simple: meaningful discussions with people who understand the operational realities of the industry.
A curated, industry-focused event
ATOM Connect is free to attend, but participation is industry-focused (each submission is manually reviewed and verified). We are intentionally keeping the audience relevant and aligned to ensure high-quality conversations and valuable networking.
If you work in shared micromobility and would like to join the event, you can find the full agenda and register here:
👉 https://www.atommobility.com/atom-connect-2026
In the coming weeks, we will be revealing more speakers and additional agenda updates. We look forward to bringing the industry together again.
Driver App demo credentials - Email: test@atom.com, Password: driver
