SYSTEMS OF SHARING CAR JOURNEYS WITH THE AIM OF REDUCING THE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC JAMS BY KEEPING THE ACHIEVED LEVEL OF POPULATION MOBILITY

Undisputable advantages of cars in terms of comfort and independence they offer, that is, flexibility of movement and the ability to adjust to needs of a particular user led to high-rate motorization and undesirable phenomenon of “car-dependent” societies. As a consequence, it is precisely due to high-level rate of usage of cars and related traffic jams that their abovementioned advantages are being lost accompanied with a number of other unfavorable effects. Traffic jams decrease the speed of movement of vehicles and lengthen the time of travelling, cause stress and nervousness among drivers, lower the safety of traffic and lead to the increase in noxious gas emission, that is, pollution of the environment. One of the ways to decrease the mentioned consequences is to use cars more rationally and that could be accomplished, among others, by applying the systems of sharing car journeys. The carpooling system functions according to the principle of mutual benefit for the driver and the passenger (it secures the decrease of expenses to the driver, and the passenger uses all the benefits of a car) and contributes to the increase of a number of passengers in a vehicle, whereas carsharing allows for the availability of a car journey to all people who have a driving license without the necessity to own a car. Therefore, these systems enable the reduction of a number of vehicles in traffic and, thus, decrease of all unfavorable effects, while keeping, almost entirely, all advantages of using a car. According to the study conducted in the Republic of Croatia, there is a significant interest in the usage of these systems, that is, services.