OSLO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 200,000 Norwegians actively practice carpooling and researchers point out that the carpooling market in Norway is growing bigger, newspaper Aftenposten reported Thursday.

"In the last two to three years carpooling has been taken seriously also by politicians here in Norway," said Vibeke Nenseth, researcher of the Institute of Transport Economics.

Even though increasingly more Norwegians carpool, one in three still do not know what this practice means, Nenseth added.

According to her, a recently launched project by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB), which offers 250 electric cars for short term rental via car sharing service, will contribute to increased awareness of the benefits of car sharing.

Nenseth and her colleagues from the institute expressed faith in future practice of car sharing in Norway, as Norwegians have early practiced use of smart phones and application-based services.

"At the same time Norwegian car fee level for private cars is so high that it will be easier to get people to use car sharing schemes instead of the private ones," Nenseth added.

The researchers further suggested additional benefits for the companies offering car sharing services, such as tax reliefs with purchase of an electric car, free parking and car charging.

Sunniva Holmas Eidsvoll, representative of the Social Left party in Oslo's city council, greeted the proposition, calling it "an interesting idea that should be considered".

The city council approved the bill for 600 fixed parking places for car sharing vehicles that should be established up until 2020. Enditem

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