ELECTRIC STATION CARS IN THE SAN-FRANCISCO BAY AREA

Station cars offer transit passengers seamless connections between rai l transit stations and their destinations, providing some of the on-ca ll, door-to-door advantages of the private automobile. They also provi de midday mobility, which is particularly important to transit patrons heading to suburban jobs. As light, two-seater electric vehicles, sta tion cars can reduce air pollution and energy consumption by increasin g transit ridership and substituting for park-and-ride trips. This art icle reviews experiences with implementing station car demonstration p rograms in the San Francisco Bay Area. Field tests reveal station car users like and feel safe driving small electric vehicles to and from r ail stations, but few are willing to pay enough to cover full costs. T he early stages of a pilot program in the city of Emeryville showed th at station cars were used more for non-commute than commute purposes a nd have the potential to significantly induce work-trip modal shifts t o rail transit. In addition to introducing bi-directional programs tha t share station cars at both the work and home ends of commute trips, vehicle co-ops and instant rental car technologies could make station cars economically viable. Over the long run, however, the degree to wh ich station cars become commercially available will Likely rely on mar ket-based principles gaining wider acceptance in America's urban trans portation sector.