Carpooling in Hungary: can it reduce the GHG emissions of personal transport?

This paper addresses the potential of carpooling in GHG emission reduction in Hungary through two surveys conducted among carpoolers and the general public, respectively. Though it is widely claimed that carpooling reduces the total VKT by allowing car users to use a single car, it can be hypothesized that in areas well-supplied with public transportation primarily public transportation users rather than car users carpool as a passenger, in which case the total VKT and so the GHG emissions remain around the same. Besides testing this hypothesis, the paper also analyzes the barriers and possibilities of a more environmentally beneficially carpooling in Hungary. The results suggest that in Hungary passenger carpoolers are indeed primarily public transportation users, and in some case carpooling even generates extra car trips by allowing less expensive driving due to carpoolers' contributions. These implications suggest that carpooling in areas well-supplied with public transportation is considerable less beneficial for the environment than it is widely thought. In addition, the results also indicate a discrepancy between the low number of carpoolers and the relatively high interest in carpooling that might be explained by the low awareness of carpooler schemes and the relatively low internet penetration Finally the paper suggests that workplace carpooling schemes might be able to contribute to significant GHG emission reduction, particularly if the cost of commuting by car considerably increases.