Chris Brauer Media Project [BLOG]

The man standing outside Angel tube station thrust out his hand and I took a leaflet from him as I entered. Ever since reading George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London (a strange and poignant autobiographical vignette on poverty and his first published work) I tend to take the leaflets or am left imagining Orwell standing freezing on the corner unable to seek shelter until the last leaflet leaves his hand.

This time I don't toss it in the garbage. "Love it. And Leave it," the text reads. Car sharing has arrived in London and the brochure notes how there's a Volkswagen Golf waiting for you around every corner, or at least "walking distance from here". If you are unfamiliar with the concept of car sharing, pioneered by the Swiss in the early 1980s, the basic premise is that a network of cars is positioned around a city and members go online to reserve a vehicle when they need one. A typical car can lead a very interesting life, serving many masters for functional purposeful missions.

So for all the talk of gas guzzling SUVs, rocketing car sales in the far east, and clogged commuter lanes, this is the very real flip side to that coin. People are taking action to share a car, like the nine people from my hometown Edmonton who share a 1999 Toyota Tercel through a non-profit co-op, in the interests of more affordable and environmentally sensitive travel. Transportation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. In places like London efforts like the newly enforced congestion charge in the center and practical alternatives like car sharing are attempts partially aimed at addressing this critical issue.

In his sociological manifesto, The Tipping Point: How Little things can make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell writes of ideas and behaviors spreading like viruses instigating the mysterious changes that mark everyday life. I'm not sure why but seeing that leaflet at Angel tube kind of confirmed for me that car sharing is an idea whose time has come, an idea that is ready to tip. There certainly has been a lot of news coverage lately discussing the concept. But more than that it is a very 21st century idea - reducing hassle (rates include petrol, insurance and maintenance), offering flexible affordability (it's not that you don't ever drive, but you only drive when you really want to), and a hint of whimsical adventure (how about asking a girl on a date, waltzing over to a local car park to pick up your car, enjoying a romantic night out, dropping her off, dropping your car off, and retreating home to blissful slumber). Watch this space.

Labels: london, sociology