A low-car lifestyle doesn’t mean doing without a car entirely

Car sharing was part of the transportation concept for the Hunziker Areal in the north of Zurich right from the outset. Two Mobility cars have been parked on the site ever since the residential and commercial estate run by the building cooperative “mehr als wohnen” was opened in 2015, and residents now have the use of two additional car-sharing vehicles as well. “Car sharing – and indeed the shared economy in general – is well suited to housing cooperatives,” says Marco Christ, Head of Services at “mehr als wohnen”.

After all, a low-car lifestyle doesn’t mean doing without a car entirely. The building cooperative provides residents with an annual subscription to Mobility and subsidises their journeys, for which they get a special rate. There’s also a mobility centre on the estate with e-bikes, bicycles, trailers and child car seats. Tenants are permitted to have a car of their own in special cases (for work reasons or due to medical needs). There are currently 50 people who hold a permit to own a vehicle.

The Mobility station Riedbach/Hagenholzstrasse is not exclusively available to residents (it can be booked by all Mobility members), but there haven’t been any bottlenecks to date. That’s a good thing, especially given the fact that not all journeys can be planned. “There are times when a car is absolutely essential,” says resident Martin Wenger. “There have been two occasions when I had to take a child to the paediatric hospital at night. You don’t want to have to wait for a taxi in situations like that. It’s reassuring to know that the cars are available round the clock at the touch of a button.” Martin Wenger estimates that he has some 3’000 vehicles available to him throughout Switzerland thanks to Mobility. “If I’m travelling to Spiez by train and I want to get to a remote village from there, I switch to Mobility. Other providers come and go, but Mobility is always a safe bet.”

Residents get together in neighbourhood groups that address any concerns people might have – such as the E-Mobility group that was set up so that people can help each other in the area of car sharing. The group discusses mobility issues and if necessary seeks dialogue with the “mehr als wohnen” administration. This was what happened when Mobility’s first electric car was made available in the summer of 2016, for example. “We organised an open day where we showed people how electric driving works,” says Hansruedi Würsch, an actively involved member of the group. As Martin Wenger adds: “It’s not really a big deal, but it does help if you get the chance to try out plugging in and unplugging the cable. Handling the range of an electric car is not much of an issue either: it’s something you get used to. I was a little uneasy myself at first, but in the end I still had ten per cent left.”

People don’t seem to have any obvious reservations as far as electromobility is concerned – on the contrary, there’s actually a high level of interest and people are very willing to try it out. “There are some residents who have no experience of it at all and need help. This is not about prejudice as such, it’s simply a somewhat natural reluctance to try out new things. That’s just how people are,” says Martin Wenger.

In terms of helping each other and getting involved in new things, the people at Hunziker Areal are open-minded and resourceful. If a new idea comes up, it is proposed to a higher-level committee, which then discusses how it can be funded. This system has led to all kinds of activities being initiated, including a ping-pong league, a beach volleyball team, homemade ice cream provided by the neighbourhood group “Ice Age”, a Full Moon Bar and a big neighbourhood festival. In their miniature universe they clearly seem to have everything they need, but if there were something more that Mobility could offer, what would it be? “A bigger car would sometimes be useful,” says Hansruedi Würsch. Marco Christ has already thought about making a van available on a trial basis, “but the level of capacity utilisation is actually fine as it is at the moment. The scheme ultimately has to be profitable for us, which is why the current number of vehicles makes sense from our point of view.”

Photos: Patrick Besch

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