The effect of tailored information for the uptake of carsharing, evidence from a field experiment in Oslo

Reducing reliance on private cars is essential for achieving a sustainable urban transport system, with carsharing offering a potentially valuable complement to public transport, walking, and biking. This study evaluates whether personalized information provision can promote carsharing adoption through a large-scale, pre-registered field experiment in Oslo, Norway. Car owners with older, underutilized vehicles were randomly assigned to a control and treatment group based on their residence postcode. About 20,000 car owners in the treatment postcodes received emails and were exposed to an online calculator that compared the costs of owning a car versus using a carsharing service for their travel needs, while the control group received no intervention. The results show a 15% increase in carsharing uptake in treated compared to the control areas, equivalent to approximately 400 new sign-ups over six months. By leveraging objective administrative data, this study provides causal evidence of the impact of tailored information on carsharing adoption.