SCC-civic-FA track B: data-driven analytics for scaling up community carshare: bringing affordable, reliable, and clean carshare to more people

Award Details: The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation awarded $350,000 to the Regents of the University of Michigan for a project grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) effective September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026. This Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) Track B project develops and deploys data-driven analytics to improve the efficiency, availability, and affordability of community carshare services operated by Hourcar, the largest nonprofit carshare provider in the United States, in collaboration with the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Products and Services: The project delivers four integrated decision-support tools designed to support Hourcar's scaled growth of its EV Spot Network electric vehicle carshare service: (1) a demand estimation engine, (2) a network design engine, (3) a pricing and incentive design engine, and (4) an operations planning engine. The research team evaluates behavioral modification interventions and incentives to promote carshare usage while addressing key operational questions regarding demand drivers, balancing efficiency with affordability and availability, and optimal incentive structures. Sub-awardees include the Regents of the University of Minnesota, which provides research support leveraging cutting-edge analytics for on-demand mobility, and Hourcar, which provides subject-matter expertise on electric vehicle carsharing and multimodal transportation solutions, particularly for low-income communities where the service achieved 44% utilization in 2024.

Abstract

The objective of this CIVIC innovation challenge (CIVIC) project is to support research on prototyping, deploying, and testing data-driven analytics to improve efficiency, availability, and affordability of carshare services. The cities of saint paul and minneapolis, minnesota launched the EV spot network in collaboration with hourcar, the largest nonprofit carshare provider in the US. The EV spot network provides publicly owned electric vehicle carshare and chargers. The service is projected to grow significantly over the next three years. This scale-up poses challenges that have not been adequately addressed in academic literature or practice. The research-centered pilot deploys data-driven analytics, developed by the research team, that look to support hourcar in making decisions as IT seeks (a) densification of its service, (B) expansion of its service region, and (C) extending the reach of public transit. Specifically, partnering with hourcar and its stakeholders, the research team aims for real-world deployment of (1) a demand estimation engine, (2) a network design engine, (3) a pricing and incentive design engine, and (4) an operations planning engine. The research project looks to contribute fundamental knowledge for how community-based carshare can be scaled up. IT will prototype, deploy, and test a suite of data driven decision support tools. IT will also evaluate the effectiveness of various behavioral modification interventions and incentives that can promote the use of carsharing. The research-centered pilot allows the team to answer key questions, including 1) what the drivers of demand are for community carshare; 2) how a community carshare shall go about balancing the needs for efficiency, availability, and affordability; and 3) what the features of incentives are in inducing greater carshare usage and mitigating the spatial and temporal mismatch between vehicle supply and demand. If successful, this pilot can serve as a template for how community carsharing can be scaled up in a cost-effective way while improving availability, increasing affordability, and extending the reach of public transit. IT can also serve as a blueprint for how cities, transit authorities, and community-based organizations can partner together to bridge the GAP between essential resources and services and community needs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.