Car sharing service emerges as new culture

Local car sharing service Green Car's imported vehicles, including the BMW Mini and BMW Countryman, are lined up at the company's promotional event in Banpo, southern Seoul. / Courtesy of Green Car

By Park Jin-hai

Tara Jeong, who studied in the United States, says that what she missed most when she came back to Korea two years ago was the car sharing service, Zipcar.

"As a student living on my parents' money, I couldn't afford a car there. During the weekdays, I used subways and buses. But, on weekends, I needed a car to go grocery shopping or traveling," she said.

"Near my place, there were always two or three cars parked for car sharing. Since my university has an agreement with Zipcar, students could get cars without much paperwork."

Car sharing enables short-time car rentals. It is possible to rent as shortly as a half an hour and extend the time as needed, while people have to rent for at least 6 hours at most of the regular rental services.

A customer of car sharing service Socar clicks on her iPad to open the door of the car. / Courtesy of Socar

Unlike Europe or United States, where car-sharing has settled over the past 10 years as a form of short-period car-rental service, the concept of car sharing in Korea is still young.

However, Green Car, the nation's largest car sharing service and official partner for Seoul city's "Car Sharing Project," says the local customer base has been growing fast since it first introduced the service in November 2011.

"Once a customer registers free membership, which requires driver's license and credit card number, and downloads a mobile application, he can use the service round the clock," said an official of Green Car.

One can check all available cars parked in the nearby zone and check the time when a car of his choice is available on the phone.

With a few clicks, he can drive the car and afterwards a payment is made automatically.

By downloading an application a person can check all available cars parked in the nearest zone and check the time when a car of choice is available by phone. / Korea times photo by Park Jin-hai

Small domestic cars including Kia Motors' Morning usually cost 5,000 to 6,000 won per hour, while the BMW Mini costs around 9,000 to 10,000 won. This price includes insurance but additional gas prices are charged, mostly in the range between 170 and 240 won per kilometer except for electric cars.

"It is ideal for business men on trips. They can pick up the car nearby and when the business is done, they return where it was. They don't need to travel around to find a rare parking space in the busy city roads and pay overnight parking fees," she added.

Some young people use the service for special occasions, as well.

Kim Hyun-jun, 23, rented a BMW Countryman from Green Car for a date. "My girlfriend and I traveled to Busan for a day. The car added a special feeling since everywhere we went, people looked at it and said how cute it was."

This year, Green Car's membership has reached 200,000, operating 720 car sharing zones in 33 cities. Some 1,200 cars, including 70 imported ones such as the BMW mini, BMW countryman, Fiat 500 and Ford Mustang, are in service.

The membership for Socar, the number 2 local car sharing service and another Seoul city official partner, has grown tenfold over the two years at 150,000 as of July 2014.

It has some 1,000 cars ― mostly domestic ― and is running some 550 sharing zones nationwide.

It intends to increase the total number of cars to 5,000 in three years.

"Green Car's major customer base is a bit older, while our service is popular among younger generations. Customers in their 20s and 30s are more than 70 percent," said a Socar official. "People can use their Facebook IDs for our service and the mobile application screen shows customers' reviews."

Electric vehicles are also offered by the city car service. People can rent a Kia Motors Ray or Renault Samsung SM3 Z.E.

An industry watcher said that car sharing will expand in the coming years. "Owing a car became more expensive. Given the high youth unemployment rate and escalating housing prices and living expenses, more young people will opt to share cars rather than owning one," he said.

The Korea Transport Institute's 2012 data showed that one car shared has the effect of reducing 125 cars on the road, reducing 2.8 million won per household per year spent on owing a car, based on a 1600 cc car.

"In a sense that city commuters travel short distances, electric vehicles could be said to be ideal for car sharing. It offers convenience but also relieves traffic jams and environmental issues in the urban area," he added.

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