Is car-sharing for you?
Car-sharing has grown enormously in the last few years. In January 2021, 150,000 Belgians shared 4,000 vehicles between them (source: autodelen.net), a year-on-year increase of 30%.
How does car-sharing work?
It involves sharing a car between several people or households. You only use the car when you need to. If you don’t travel much by car, car-sharing is a much cheaper option than owning your own car.
Subscription-based...
There are two major types of car-sharing. The first involves specialist companies that provide the cars that are shared. You take out a subscription and pay by the mile and/or hour when you use a car. Some providers require you to return the vehicle to its starting point. Others allow you to leave the car in another location within the same town or city.
... or not
In the second type of car-sharing, which is less widespread, people make their own cars available for sharing. They do this in one of two ways. The car can be owned by one person or group of people and users pay the actual costs of using it, based on mileage. Alternatively, the owner chooses how much to charge per hour or per mile, making it a kind of peer-to-peer car rental service.