Car Sharing is also known as car pooling, liftsharing or ridesharing (not to be confused with car clubs). Car sharing is when two or more people share a car and travel together. It allows people to benefit from the convenience of the car, whilst alleviating the associated problems of congestion and pollution. It also allows people to share the costs of petrol and so on.
The Benefits of Sharing Vehicles
- Reduce the number of cars on the roads – resulting in less congestion, less pollution, a reduction in GHG emissions and fewer parking problems.
- Provide a real solution to the transport access problems of rural areas.
- Give employees and employers more transport options.
- Reduce the need for private car ownership.
- Save money – travelling with others can save up to £1000 a year on transport costs.
Car Sharing for Individuals
There are several car share schemes across the UK which can match you with others wanting to travel in the same direction so you can share the journey and the costs.
You can share a car for any journey – getting to work, doing the weekly shop, going to the match at the weekend, travelling to a festival, event or show, getting to or from university, visiting friends or getting to the airport. You can offer lifts if you have spare seats in your car or look for a lift if you don’t have a car.
Car Sharing for Employers
If parking is an issue for you, you are having trouble recruiting staff because they can’t reach you, or if you just want to do your staff (and your bottom line) a favour, then using a car share scheme is likely to be a good idea.
You can either encourage your staff to join the free open access group on your local car share scheme or set up a restricted access group for your staff.
The latter facility enables you to establish your own private journey matching scheme within one of the scheme operator sites. Your staff will be able to choose to search from either the public scheme if they wish, but the default setting restricts journey data and matches to within your organisation. Some companies prefer the added feeling of security this gives. An Administrator, nominated by you, will have access to some of the data on the group for monitoring and promotional purposes. This may be important if you have a Travel Plan, or want to track uptake and usage.
Car Sharing and Public Transport
Car sharing and other sustainable travel options such as walking, cycling and public transport should be presented as complementary to one another. When considering launching a car sharing scheme it can be a challenge for employers and travel planners to ensure they obtain the right balance between the promotion of car sharing and other sustainable transport modes.
It is important to be ambitious in encouraging a range of non-car modes in addition to car sharing. By offering a package of solutions more people are likely to benefit. It also ensures other modes are not undermined financially and that less carbon intensive travel is always the first choice where available.
