June 2, 2008

Next Monday is the National Liftshare day, a day in which people are encouraged to either get out of their cars and into somebody else’s, or to take on new passengers.  With congestion a constant problem for motorists and escalating fuel prices eating into their budgets like never before, there has never been a better time to explore the benefits of car sharing.

www.liftshare.org is a UK web portal that introduces people who are looking to travel in the same direction and enable them to share the journey and it’s cost.  All you have to do is join up and see if your journey is available to share.  If you are looking to share your journey you can upload it and see which people are looking to go in the same direction as you. 

Many companies and councils have set up closed networks that are available to their employees only, encouraging people to travel to as well as work together.  This helps with many factors, such as car parking, congestion and fostering good staff relations, as well as reducing travel costs for the staff members.

Next Monday sees the annual national Liftshare day, during which people are encouraged to join up and share their transport needs.  Anyone over the age of 16 can use the system. People can offer lifts and those without cars can look for lifts. The system can be used for regular journeys, such as commuting; one off journeys, such as business trips or event travel; and occasional journeys, such as visiting relatives and friends.

As the number of people enrolled on the system approaches 250,000, users are presented with an increasing number of journeys available.  Organizers estimate that users who use the system for their daily commute save an average of £1,000 per year.  With the cost of motoring rising relentlessly this offers a really effective and viable way to keep travel costs down.  With such high numbers of subscribers large national savings are easy to achieve.  If each of 250,000 members saves £400 per year (less than £10 per week), the net benefit to the group is £100 million.  With the numbers increasing daily the savings has the potential to increase on an exponential basis.

Monday the 9th June may be the first time that you’ve heard of the scheme, but it won't be the last, as lift sharing is here to stay.  The scheme is free to join so if you take the time to sign up you could start saving straight away, you'll be saving money and carbon emissions as well, which is good for everyone.  For more information and to print off a poster for your office click here.
http://www.liftshare.org/solutions/nlsd.asp

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