Government urges councils to encourage more car-sharing
20/01/2011

Government urges councils to encourage more car-sharingIt's been great to see the Government recognise the financial and environmental importance of car-sharing in its Local Sustainable Transport white paper, which it launched today.

An "unprecedented" £560 million fund was announced to help local councils create growth in the economy and tackle climate change by "going green" on transport. But whilst historically such funds have tended to focus on public transport, walking and cycling, this time the Government also highlighted the significant advantages of sharing a private car as well.

Car-sharing "can help to alleviate the problems of congestion and carbon emissions" said the document, entitled Creating Growth, Cutting Carbon, before making a case study of a very successful regional Liftshare scheme. The document went on to add that "eliminating the use of passenger cars altogether would be the wrong approach given that for many people, particularly in rural areas and for medium-distance or multi-leg trips, the car is the only practical choice and will remain so."

Ali Clabburn, founder of Liftshare, was very encouraged by the White Paper. "All too often the car is demonised, yet it is only the single-occupancy car which is such an environmentally and financially damaging transport option," he said. "A full car is often the greenest form of motorised transport, and it is reassuring to see the Government recognising this and advocating wider take-up of car-sharing."

Comments

Posted By kjkbujhfdx on 10/09/2012 02:43:46

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Posted By kjkbujhfdx on 06/09/2012 06:05:12

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Posted By P Brown on 15/02/2011 09:47:53

Actually I think you'll find that UK bus services are not that bad. Nationally, 80% of services are provided without local authority subsidy. 80% of the poulation live in towns, so we need to recognise that for deep rural areas the high cost per passenger of conventional bus services may be unsustainable. The Government should look to more flexible alternatives like taxibuses, which can offer a more flexible service at lower cost. Having said that there are rural bus success stories such as Western Greyhound in Cornwall, which has built up a thriving and comprehensive network since 1997. http://www.westerngreyhound.com/index.php As to the potential of car sharing, I have been sharing my daily commute to work for 14 years taking up to 4 passengers, and averaging c500 passenger round trips per year.

Posted By S Randall on 03/02/2011 14:07:43

What a load a hot air! How about spending some of the tax raised from hard-pressed motorists and investing it in a public transport system that's desireable and affordable? Other counties around Euope manage it, but we seem totally incapable. If I choose to spend several thousand pounds on my own car, I'LL choose who rides in it, if it's all the same to you. I can't commute to work by public transport as it's simply not practical. 35 minutes by car or 2 hours publically; which would you choose?

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