Based on empirical research on a new and highly innovative car sharing-project the article claims that in German society individuals' lifestyles and the availability of automobiles are linked in a self-reinforcing feedback process. Data gathered from first round panel interviews focusing on patterns of mobility and activities show that particular means of transport encourage particular lifestyles and vice versa. Moreover, the characteristics of patterns of mobility touch on categories fundamental to social sciences, such as household and family, as well as on categories central to transport research, such as choice of routes and time budgets. A first look at these categories shows a confusing picture well-known from other studies. There is a wide variety of biographies, of organisation of work, housekeeping and leisure time. There is neither a clear pattern nor a predominant model in the variety of lifestyles. However, the results of the interviews show that the use of means of transport is widely integrated into daily life and has become a routine to all persons interviewed. These findings are not only relevant to social science research on transport and mobility, but have also consequences for some basic categories for the analysis of social reality.
