Have you ever thought about the total cost associated with owning a vehicle?
According to recent studies, the average cost of a car in Australia is costing consumers up to $17,000 per year - 66% more than expected. This figure considers vehicle depreciation, registration, insurance, maintenance, fuel, and parking that may be overlooked at first glance.
How are vehicle ownership and property development related you might ask?
For residents living in urban apartment developments, their private vehicle may be sitting idle for up to 97% of time. Statistics such as these have been at the core of the push towards car-sharing initiatives being included as an amenity in new developments. New builds around the world have been found to incorporate car-sharing services to move away from wasted car parking space in new builds.
Across Australia, build costs for sub-ground parking can reach $3,200 per square meter, up to $50,000 per parking space, or over $5million per level of underground parking. Implementing a car-sharing initiative significantly reduces the requirement for car ownership, and therefore the need and costs of constructing parking spaces. This strategy has been particularly valuable for developments located in areas of well-served public transport, saving developers massive costs through the construction stage of development.
Reducing the space and cost requirement for car parking also allows better options for developers to improve the overall utility of their development, including additional units, increasing planned unit sizes, or adding more marketable shared amenities. Depending on the area of a site, developers may need to balance community challenges around the number of spaces available for occupants who own vehicles and concerns around shared access for available vehicles and street access. Details of the car share scheme should also be outlined in the development application and under disclosure information for the annual costs of these services.
Not only are the cost savings to developers viewed to be highly beneficial, but these initiatives also provide an environmental benefit in assisting towards reaching national net-zero-emission targets. Modern shared mobility providers like Outbound are offering the additional sustainability benefits associated with electric cars, bikes, and scooters. These new options for mobility offer a genuine alternative to private car ownership and public transport for urban residents, whilst reducing the climate impact of the community.
With a rapid increase in resident interest in these services and the drive for climate action, it is understandable that this initiative is becoming more popular across new builds globally.
Are you interested to discuss mobility requirements for your new development? Drop us an email: hello@getoutbound.io
