Comment Re:If _sharing_ cars is so expensive... (Score 1) 31
I think you don't understand the concept of a "crisis". Sharing cars is subject to a subscription service, and in a place with generally excellent car free mobility it becomes an optional expense.
The cost of living crisis has hit many things in the UK, Netflix subscriptions, internet, phone replacement, eating out, entertainment, type of stuff bought. The second hand market is booming. The optional expenses (which for most this service is) are plummeting. Hell the only one really making a profit are those people who make sweaters, and only then because buying a new woolen jumper is cheaper than turning the heating on allowing people to save on their gas bill.
A fuckton of the UK services industry is currently under dire straits. There is nothing wrong with the business model, they are only pulling out of one specific location where it currently isn't viable.
Sharing cars should be substantially cheaper than "owning one's own"
It is. Very much so in the UK, and many parts of Europe. Your problem is you equation considers the two possibilities as being "own a car" vs "share a car". The reality is the real question is "share a car" vs "don't share a car". Ownership is not in question in a place where car free mobility is trivial to achieve. You may not understand what it's like to live in a place where needing a car is optional for all but rare conveniences. (I wrote above a joke about needing to go to a hardware store, but really not owning a car, and not sharing a car didn't stop my sister from renovating her apartment in Hammersmith, it's like she used a website and all the things magically appeared at her home).