The latest figures show a surge in shared mobility across Italy. Car pooling reached 450,305 trips in the first half of 2025, cutting emissions and saving millions.
Car pooling in Italy posts unprecedented growth
Car pooling in Italy is experiencing unprecedented growth. According to data from the Osservatorio Aziende in Movimento, shared trips reached 450,305 in the first half of 2025, marking a 55% increase compared with 2024.
This outcome translates into 7.28 million fewer kilometers driven individually and 258,383 fewer cars on the road. The environmental savings are tangible: 946 tons of CO₂ were avoided, while users collectively saved €1.45 million. The benefits continue to grow as the share of electric vehicles in ride-sharing increases.
Among the various tools of sustainable mobility, car pooling stands out for its ability to combine automotive innovation with the benefits of a fair and accessible ecological transition.
The principles behind shared rides
Car pooling is emerging as one of the most effective forms of shared mobility. Born in the United States as a wartime rationing measure during World War II, it has evolved into a widespread and trusted service thanks to digital platforms that make ride-sharing easy, reliable, and efficient.
The principle is simple: people traveling the same route share a car, split costs, and reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The result is lower emissions, less congestion, and an added social dimension. Unlike car sharing, where users rent vehicles from an operator for a fee, car pooling relies on trips already being made.
Distances covered by car pooling in Italy
In Italy, car pooling is most common on regular routes such as commuting to work or university, with an average trip length of 27.9 km. In regions with limited public transportation, journeys stretch much longer: 54 km in Molise, 50.5 km in Sicily, and 45.6 km in Sardinia.
Data from the Osservatorio Aziende in Movimento show a 70% year-on-year increase in average distances traveled in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024. This growth suggests car pooling is not only an ecological choice but also a practical response to mobility needs outside urban centers.
Environmental impact of shared trips
By optimizing the use of cars already on the road, car pooling significantly reduces environmental impact. In the first half of 2025 alone, shared trips kept 258,383 cars off Italian roads and avoided nearly 950 tons of CO₂ emissions, roughly equivalent to the weight of 140 adult African elephants.
The data do not specify the type of powertrain used by the vehicles, but it is easy to assume that in a context with high penetration of e-cars, the emissions avoided would be significantly higher: over their lifecycle, EVs typically cut CO₂ emissions by 55% to 75% compared with gasoline cars, depending on the energy mix.
Corporate car pooling: 173,000 employees involved
One of the most notable trends is the rise of corporate car pooling. In the first six months of 2025, 2,697 company sites and 173,384 employees took part, completing more than 404,000 trips.
The savings are significant: 917 tons of CO₂ avoided and €1.41 million saved directly by employees in just six months of 2025. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) led adoption, accounting for nearly half of all active sites, followed by mid-sized firms and major industrial hubs.
At the regional level, Lombardy stands out with 18.7% of participating company sites and 19.7% of employees, followed by the province of Rome, which leads Italy with 7.7% of sites. These figures show that shared mobility is becoming an integral part of corporate welfare policies and commuting plans, coordinated by mobility managers across companies of all sizes.
The profile of workers who choose to share rides is that of regular users: more than 50% car pool five days a week, while another 35% do so three or four times. More than half adopted the practice only in the past year, reflecting a recent but rapid spread. Sixty-three percent cite cost savings as their main motivation, while 12% point to environmental awareness.
Policy outlook: the Italian Social Climate Plan
These behaviors, recorded by the Osservatorio, fit into a political context increasingly focused on new tools to support sustainable and shared mobility. One such tool is Italy’s proposed Social Climate Plan, which would establish a predefined spending allowance for vulnerable users to access all types of mobility services covered by EU Regulation 2023/955. The idea, still under review, envisions vouchers ranging from €100 to €400, depending on the applicant’s level of vulnerability, to encourage the use of affordable public transport, on-demand sustainable mobility, shared mobility services, and active mobility solutions.
However, building a comprehensive discussion on the subject also requires national and international forums, starting with those offered by KEY – The Energy Transition Expo, the leading event in Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean region on energy transition and efficiency.
Scheduled for March 4–6, 2026, KEY will return to Rimini Expo Centre with dedicated spaces focused on mobility and new urban sustainability approaches. Among them are Sustainable City and eME-eMOBILITY EXPO, two of the event’s seven exhibition areas.
Sustainable City will focus on citizen well-being and innovative approaches to integrate sustainable transport with digitalization and urban regeneration. Over three days, it will outline the profile of tomorrow’s green city, bringing together solutions and industry players and offering a comprehensive view of community-driven innovation.
At eME-eMOBILITY EXPO, the focus will be on the technological details of electric mobility: from the latest charging solutions to new car batteries, as well as interconnection services and the electrification of corporate and commercial fleets.
Article in collaboration with KEY – The Energy Transition Expo
