Helmond encourages car sharing: 'Smarter, more sustainable and more social'

Every empty car seat is a potential that is not being used, according to the Helmond campuses, the municipality of Helmond and Brainport Bereikbaar. For that reason, they are testing the Karos app, which ride together stimulates. 'Carpooling is a more sustainable option, improves accessibility and brings people and companies together', says Kees van Son of Brainport Bereikbaar. The use of the app in the region was boosted in part by the Regio Deal Brainport Eindhoven.

Employees of Automotive Campus, Brainport Human Campus and the municipality of Helmond have already made almost three hundred carpool trips via Karos in recent weeks. This makes Helmond the first municipality in the Netherlands to use the app. 'We try to encourage residents to choose a more sustainable form of transport', says alderman Arno Bonte. 'So it is only normal that we do that ourselves.' Initiatives like these are sorely needed, the alderman believes. 'The region will grow considerably in a short time. Helmond is expected to grow from 95,000 to 115,000 residents. To prevent roads from becoming clogged, we need to travel in a different way. That is why we are focusing on better public transport, constructing fast cycle paths and encouraging car sharing.'

Typically Helmond

Pieter Rahusen, Ecosystem & Business Development Manager, does not find it so strange that Automotive Campus in particular is embracing the app. 'Carpooling fits in with our mission and vision: making mobility more sustainable and organising it differently. When I heard about Karos, I suggested starting the following week. My colleagues at Brainport Human Campus thought the same. That is typical Helmond: just do it.' Just like the alderman, Pieter also sees the potential of carpooling. 'At the moment, nine out of ten cars have one person driving. I have always been amazed by that. If we can eliminate twenty percent of transport movements, the traffic jam problem will be solved. A simple calculation shows me that this happens if everyone carpools once a week. That is already working in France: Karos is very popular there with millions of rides per day.'

Social aspect

The primary goal of using Karos is to improve accessibility in the region and reduce CO2 emissions. 'But carpooling also brings together drivers and passengers with different backgrounds', says Kees van Son, project leader at Brainport Bereikbaar. 'Unlike other initiatives, Karos users are not just your colleagues. You can also carpool with employees from other companies. That makes for nice conversations, connections and fewer dropouts: if your colleague can't carpool one time, there's bound to be someone else who wants to carpool.'

Volume is the key to success

To make ride-sharing in the region a success, sufficient volume is needed. 'The more users, the easier carpooling becomes', says Pieter Rahusen. 'The biggest challenge is not to fall back into your old pattern and that requires a change in behavior. The power lies in repeatedly drawing attention to Karos. Moreover, it also helps that the driver earns a small amount per ride. All together that adds up nicely.'

Collaboration between government and business

Alderman Arno Bonte looks to the future with hope. 'People who use the app are positive: they find the ease of use and accessibility a great advantage. If Karos in Helmond soon has a few thousand users, I am convinced that the rest of the region and the country will soon follow.' The first discussions in De Kempen are already taking place. 'With this collaboration, the government and business community in Helmond are setting a good example', says Kees. 'I am proud of that.'

Urban Development Initiative

Using the app Karos is made possible by the Urban Development Initiative (UDI). The municipalities of Eindhoven and Helmond, Brainport Development and the TU/e work together on adequate, smart, integral, innovation-driven answers to urban issues. The Regio Deal resources, which are intended to promote broad prosperity, form a flywheel in this.