Expanding Peer-to-Peer Carsharing in Los Angeles

1. Executive Summary: My leadership project doubled as my Applied Policy Project (APP), the capstone project for the MPP degree. My APP team produced a report for a client, the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, recommending strategies to increase equitable access to transportation by designing a peer-to-peer carsharing pilot program in the City of Los Angeles. The report recommends that the city continue its support of BlueLA’s electric carsharing service and launch a peer-to-peer pilot program in the neighborhood of Hollywood by designating 10 parking spaces in prime locations and promoting the pilot program through existing transit infrastructure. I helped lead my team throughout this year-long project by facilitating meetings and interviews, analyzing data, and guiding the completion of the 96-page report.
2. Importance: Advancing shared mobility modes like carsharing in Los Angeles has the potential to improve equitable access to mobility and reduce negative externalities, enabling behavioral changes that advance positive social and environmental goals. Research has documented the many environmental benefits of carsharing, such as delayed or forgone vehicle purchases, increased use of alternative transportation modes, reduced vehicle miles traveled, reduced fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and increased environmental awareness. Advising the City of Los Angeles and providing recommendations for organizations like the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance about carsharing policy should lead to a more sustainable Los Angeles by advancing the benefits of private vehicle access without the incentive for every family to own a car of their own.
3. Impact and Reach: This project was completed for the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance. This organization ultimately aims to disseminate the report to contacts within the City of Los Angeles and many of the city’s neighborhood councils. Findings will also be presented to members of the UCLA Public Policy Department as an APP capstone project presentation.
4: Collaborations Under the guidance of a Public Policy faculty advisor, my APP team provided policy analysis and recommendations for a client, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance (NCSA). Founded in 2015, NCSA aims to advance environmental sustainability throughout Los Angeles, and is affiliated with the 501(c)(3) non-profit Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. NCSA’s membership consists of representatives from over 60 local neighborhood councils in the city, and they accomplish their work through public forums and collaboration with other organizations. NCSA’s transportation committee aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in Los Angeles and expand mobility options for disadvantaged communities. To complete this project, my team also collaborated with multiple carsharing companies and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
5. My Role: Throughout the year-long APP capstone project, I continually took initiative within my team of five students to lead the group towards success and reach key milestones throughout the project process. I demonstrated leadership by serving as a primary spokesperson and moderator of meetings and interviews with the client, carsharing companies, the faculty advisor and team, and other relevant stakeholders. I took a leading role in reaching out to stakeholders for data and cultivating relationships to write the report. I also spearheaded efforts to analyze and incorporate survey data from carsharing users to understand user attitudes, environmental benefits and behavioral changes, and the role of carsharing within the wider transportation landscape.