Can Electric Vehicle Carsharing Bridge the Green Divide? A Study of BlueLA’s Environmental Impacts among Underserved Communities and the Broader Population

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the potential of electric vehicle (EV) carsharing services to address social and environmental disparities in urban transportation through an evaluation of BlueLA, a one-way station-based carsharing service in Los Angeles, California. BlueLA provides a clean and affordable mobility option in underserved communities that face significant air quality burdens and have historically been excluded from environmental benefits. By incorporating BlueLA trip activity data from January 2021 to December 2022 (n = 59,112 trips) and an online user survey implemented in early December 2022 (n = 215 responses), we estimate the impacts of BlueLA on personal vehicle ownership patterns, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The results show an overall net reduction in VMT and GHG emissions of 463,845 miles and 656 metric tons, respectively, among the BlueLA user population (3074 registered users). When disaggregating impacts by BlueLA member type, our findings show a net reduction of 234 and 371 metric tons in GHG emissions for Standard (general population) and Community (low-income qualified) members, respectively. Additionally, our socio-demographic analysis highlights clear disparities between these two member groups, with Community members typically having lower incomes (i.e., 74% earning below USD 50,000 annually); lower educational attainment (i.e., 46% with at most an associate’s degree); and larger households (i.e., 23% living in households of four or more) compared to Standard members (i.e., 19% earning below USD 50,000, 24% with at most an associate’s degree, and 9% in households of four or more). Moreover, when comparing the VMT and associated GHG emissions due to BlueLA, we find that the presence of BlueLA reduces VMT and GHG emissions by 34% and 48% respectively, and each BlueLA vehicle replaces 16 personally owned vehicles (shed and postponed purchases). Last, when comparing the emissions produced by the electric fleet of BlueLA to those of a comparable fleet of internal combustion engine vehicles, we find that the use of an EV fleet reduces GHG emissions by 43% in comparison. The BlueLA carsharing service has led to notable net reductions in VMT and thus GHG emissions, with a major share of these reductions observed among Community members.