How Bremen, Germany, Became a Car-Sharing Paradise

Bremen, in Northwestern Germany, could not be described as car-dependent in the North American sense of the term. In this city of 550,000, most daily journeys happen on mass transit (14 percent of all trips), on foot (20 percent), or by bike (25 percent).

But that still leaves 40 percent or so of Bremenites' mobility to driving, and officials believe the city simply has too many cars. Beyond concerns about emissions and air quality, there's also the nuisance factor, explains Michael Glotz-Richter, the city's senior project manager for sustainable mobility.