Car sharing offer in Jena is growing
The number of shared cars on offer in Jena is growing: on June 1, 2025, the car-sharing company teilAuto put 16 additional parking spaces into operation in public areas.
The city of Jena's mobility department had previously used a public expression of interest procedure to find car sharing providers to provide vehicles in designated parking spaces in Jena-Nord, Wenigenjena, Winzerla, Zwätzen, Jena-Süd, Kernberge, Neulobeda and Jena-West. Suggestions from citizens were also taken into account when selecting the locations. The contract was awarded to teilAuto from Leipzig.
Around 120 vehicles available in the city
In total, teilAuto now provides citizens in Jena with around 120 vehicles at 70 stations for shared use. Electromobility is playing an increasingly important role here: eleven vehicles are currently electric, with more to follow. teilAuto builds and operates its own charging points at many stations, while some other charging points belong to Jena's municipal utilities and are rented by teilAuto.
Car sharing in Jena is closely linked to local public transport. For example, holders of a VMT subscription benefit from reduced rates with teilAuto.
Jena in 7th place nationwide for station-based car sharing
With its range of station-based vehicles - i.e. cars that are picked up and returned at fixed locations - Jena is one of the pioneers nationwide: according to the German Carsharing Association (bcs), Jena is ranked 7th in Germany and 1st in Thuringia.
Car sharing makes it possible for people to do without their own car - and thus save on purchase costs, insurance and maintenance. Use is based on demand and billing is based on time and kilometers driven. In addition to financial benefits, this also has an impact on mobility behavior: People who use car sharing generally drive less often - and thus spare nerves that would otherwise be strained in the daily search for a parking space or in city traffic.
City provides targeted support for car sharing
"Car sharing is an important building block for sustainable urban mobility - especially when it is well networked with buses and trains. With the targeted designation of parking spaces, we want to make it as easy as possible for citizens to stay mobile without their own car," emphasizes Kathleen Lützkendorf, Head of Social Affairs, Health, Immigration and Climate of the City of Jena.
This is why the city of Jena is specifically supporting the further development of car sharing by providing public spaces. It sees station-based car sharing as a useful addition to local public transport, especially for the so-called "last mile". The aim is to encourage more people to use shared vehicles - and thus reduce the number of private cars.
Only recently, the mobility study by TU Dresden (SrV 2023) showed that Jena residents are making fewer and fewer of their daily journeys by car. The expansion of car sharing services in Jena can therefore help more and more people to do without their own car. In any case, this would relieve public spaces from the amount of parked cars and would also be a benefit for road safety and climate protection.
Overview of the 16 new parking spaces
Two parking spaces can be found at each of the following new locations:
- Wenigenjena - Löbichauer Straße 71
- Jena-Winzerla - Schrödingerstraße 2
- Jena-Zwätzen - Rowena-Morse-Straße 1
- Jena-South - Beutenbergstraße 16
- Jena-North - Spitzweidenweg 39
- Kernberge - Jenertal 15
- Neu-Lobeda - Liselotte-Herrmann-Straße 4
- Jena-West - Forstweg 49