Making the inaccessible... accessible
16/09/2010

Making the inaccessible... accessibleIf your public transport connections are convenient and reliable, it's not so bad being without a car. A lot of our members, however, don't have good connections where they live - or the local bus and train timetables don't fit with their working hours.

As Chesca in Newcastle Emlyn observed, it's unlikely we'll ever have a comprehensive public transport system in the more remote villages, so "increased liftsharing has to be the way forward for many rural areas."

Certainly, for people like Ray in Devon, liftsharing can play a hugely important role in accessibility. "I was matched with a driver offering a lift to Exeter the same day I registered," he told us. "Living in an isolated area it was a perfect solution."

In some cases though, the possibility of car-sharing actually makes the difference between whether someone can take a new job or not - or keep an existing one.

Commuting 48 miles to work was already tough enough for Stuart in Torrington, but after suffering a seizure he was told he couldn't drive for 12 months. "With the buses so rare, car-sharing was my only hope," he said. Thankfully, there was another member going Stuart's way.

Sue in Warwick faced a similar challenge. "When I broke my wrist, car-sharing was not only a great way of reducing stress and being sociable, but it also meant I could still work. It was a godsend to me."

So if you know someone unable to drive for physical reasons, or cut off from convenient public transport, make sure you tell them about Liftshare.com - it could make all the difference in the world to them.

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