Car sharing

How many empty seats are you driving into work each day?

Every day there are ten million empty seats on the road.  For many, travelling to work by public transport isn't an option, and it's too far to walk or cycle.  The other option to cut down on your commuting costs is car sharing, and in many large companies it works well, whether informally (colleagues finding people who live near them) or formally (people being matched through a computer database).

In 2006, Nottinghamshire County Council launched an online car sharing database to help people find people they can car share with.  You can find it by logging onto www.nottinghamshare.com.

Common Car Share myths

1. “I don’t know anyone I can share with” has been cited by some, but with Nottinghamshare it doesn’t matter.  The software will add your journey details to its database and suggest people who live near you, so you can then choose to contact relevant colleagues and come to a lift sharing arrangement.
2. “Nobody lives near me” has been wailed in desperation at times, yet individuals have signed up from all over the place - from villages in the Vale of Belvoir to hamlets in Derbyshire.  The more people who sign up, the more chances there are of someone living near you going your way!.  
3. “Nobody works the hours I work” There are a wide range of flexible working arrangements across workplaces – from 9 to 5, to flexitime to 24 hour working, and there is a likelihood of finding somebody working similar patterns as you.  Again, flexibility is the key, and just sharing on days that are compatible is a start.
4. “I don’t drive” or “I don’t have a car” This doesn’t matter.  If you need to get a lift to work or to a training course, you can join Nottinghamshare and specify that you just want to be a passenger.
5. "It's not safe" is one of the fears that puts people off. Whilst it is daunting to get into a stranger's car for the first time, there have never been any incidents to suggest that it's not safe.  In fact, research found that car sharer's have less accidents because they drive more carefully with a passenger in the car.  With Nottinghamshare, you don't have to reveal your address to the car share partner and we encourage people to arrange a pick up point in a public place. Check the person's ID for the first time, and make sure you tell somebody what you're doing.

Case Study

Stephen A and Stuart C work in West Bridgford and have been car sharing for a few years.  Both live near Sheffield, and are advocates of the Nottinghamshare scheme.

“I wasn’t keen on the idea of sharing my journeys to start with,” admits Stuart.  “I like the flexibility of being able to come and go when I like, and didn’t want to lose that.”  It was Stephen that approached Stuart and they decided that it made sense to share the 94 mile round trip between them.  “We made an agreement to start and finish early avoiding the traffic, and once we’d agreed this, I found I didn’t feel the need to stay late.  It’s really not a burden like I thought.”

Stephen agrees that once they started car sharing, the benefits were huge.  “As well as cutting down on 940 miles a month, we found that we shared the same taste in music… although Stuart doesn’t share my taste in jokes!”  They both save around £40 each week in petrol costs, and Stuart has found that he doesn’t need to service his car so often.  “I’m far less tired and stressed these days,” admits Stephen, “as I’m able to fall asleep in the car – when Stuart’s driving of course!”  At Christmas it was a boon too, as they had office parties on different days and were both able to go and have a drink knowing that the other person was driving home.

“There does need to be a greater incentive to car share,” says Stuart, “and maybe at a higher level than the Council.  The Government are proposing special lanes on the motorway for cars with more than one occupant, and this will really help us on the M1.  I think too that if one day people were charged to park at County Hall, car sharers could be exempt and that would be a great incentive!”

But for now, Stuart and Stephen have enough reasons to continue car sharing.  “There really haven’t been any problems in the few years that we’ve been sharing, and there’s the guaranteed ride home service if anything did happen to call us home urgently.  There have been a couple of occasions when Stephen has overslept, but we won’t mention those!”