The orchestration of sustainable mobility service innovations: understanding the manifold agency of car sharing operators

Service-based alternatives to private vehicles and public transport are increasing. These innovations are hoped to boost the transition to sustainable mobility, addressing challenges such as congestion, air quality and the large share of CO2 resulting from traffic. To achieve this transition, there is an urgent need for collaboration between private companies and public authorities, especially locally. We claim that insufficient attention is paid to the agencies of the practical actors, such as car sharing operators, which is the key to understanding what this collaboration requires. Orchestrating the collaboration successfully is also a prerequisite for the sustainability of the services. We use interview data from car sharing operators and public authorities in Finnish cities to analyze the local-level implementation of shared mobility services. Our results show how the local public authorities play a crucial role in allowing the services to flourish but also ensure the services’ environmental and social sustainability.