liftshare news

Five car-sharers save £100,000!

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

No doubt you've heard the news about the threatened petrol price increase. It could cost an extra 4p per litre over the coming days.

But let's not indulge in too much doom and gloom. Here's an amazing story: five car-sharers saving themselves about £100,000 over the past 20 year. They’ve also experienced many of the less well-known benefits of sharing lifts, such as the welcome opportunity to take a nap as someone else drives you home!

There are currently over 365,000 members on the Liftshare network - which your scheme is part of - sharing or seeking to share. As one member, James, said: "I think I am saving just over £1,200 per year in petrol alone not to mention wear and tear on my car. We have all become good friends through car-sharing and regularly socialise outside of travelling to work."

The typical commuter who car-shares saves on average £987 a year. Now could be the ideal time to give it a try!

50% increase in number of invitations to car-share!

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:52:43 EST

Liftshare Week (1-5 October) had a record-breaking impact on the number of commuters asking others going their way to car-share with them.

Over 50% more 'request to share' messages were sent between members during the fortnight of liftshare Week and its run-up compared to the same period during last year’s (previously record-breaking) campaign!

"More than one share request was being sent between members every minute of every working day throughout the fortnight – which was beyond even our expectations,” said Ali Clabburn, founder of the liftshare network (which this site is a part of).

"The success of this campaign really underlines the shift in driving behaviour going on around the UK; the increase in people recognising how easy, fun and popular it is to share lifts – not to mention the typical commuter saving on average £987 a year!"

Notes:

• 5,590 people sent a 'request to share' message on the nationwide network during the fortnight of liftshare Week 2012

• 3,697 share requests were sent during last year's campaign (which had previously been the best fortnight ever)

There's room for more!

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 08:23:37 EST

If you're car-sharing already, remember you can always add a few more to your carpool.

Gemma (pictured) started by sharing with just one other person, but now she's found some other good journey-matches, and four of them are sharing their commute.

How much is she saving? A handsome £3,322.78 every year!

Next week (1-5 October) is Liftshare Week. This website is part of the UK’s original and largest car-sharing network. So if you want to share your journey (and save hundreds – even thousands - of pounds), here is where you'll find your best chance...

5 reasons to embrace Liftshare Week

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:12:28 EST

Liftshare Week (1-5 October) is all about encouraging individuals to give lift-sharing a try, to discover its financial, social and environmental benefits!

Last year, Liftshare Week won a European award, and over 6,200 new members signed up in just five days!

This year we have done even more to make the campaign more successful than ever and we’re asking you to get involved...

Here are 5 reasons why you should!

1. Cost

Split the cost of any journey in half or even more! When petrol prices are rising, sharing the financial burden can save you significant amounts of cash!

2. Environment

If everybody car-sharied just one day a week, congestion on the roads could be reduced by up to 20%! Not only would you not have to spend so much time in traffic, but you'll be significantly reducing your C02 emissions too!

3. Image

Doing your bit for the environment and sharing lifts with others can only improve your caring image!

4. Employment

If you are thinking about working somewhere, making your commute to the office, cheaper and easier makes more job opportunities attractive.

5. Sociality

Lift-sharing is also proven to create better social networks (an often hidden attribute of car sharing) talking with those you share with helps to create stronger social bonds.

So, why not register for FREE and try lift-sharing today - visit www.liftshare.com. And while you're at it, put up a few Liftshare Week posters in your workplace and encourage others to do the same! Visit www.liftshareweek.com and choose which posters you'd like to download in the 'Spread the word...' section.

Top 4 reasons to lift-share!

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:00:44 EST

1- SAVE

Time – Car-sharing reduces congestion on the roads, so you spend less time in traffic. Not only that, some cities have car-share lanes, so you can skip through congestion.

Fuel - Running one car instead of two or more saves petrol. A typical commuter saves about £1,000 each year!

2- REDUCE

Carbon emissions – Fewer cars means less fuel burned, so lower C02 emissions.

Driving stress – Company for conversation and an extra pair of eyes, means many people find car-sharing reduces stress behind the wheel and road rage.

3- GAIN

A better work/life balance - You have to leave work at an agreed time.

Parking space – Some companies provide designated sharing spaces for those car-sharing. And, even if there are no designated spaces, encouraging car-sharing within your workplace reduces the demand for parking spaces; making parking easier.

4- SHARE

Costs - Fuel, tolls and parking costs can be, at the very least, halved by car-sharing.

Is there an answer to the rail fare hikes?

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:21:47 EST

Tens of thousands of rail commuters will have to pay more than £5,000 a year for their season tickets after new rises are introduced in January, we've been warned today.

Fares are set to rise by 6.2% in the new year, but with train operators allowed to raise some fares by an additional 5%, some commuters could see 11.2% price rises on their tickets next year - resulting in some of the most expensive train journeys in Europe.

Trains are a great way of travelling – green, and less stressful than being at the steering wheel – but there are many commuters who are saying they simply can't afford another rail fare increase.

If you're going to struggle with the new rail fares, you're on the right website! And don't worry if you don't have access to a car – many members are happy to give others a lift in exchange for a contribution to the fuel costs.

Sign up today and look for others going your way. By tomorrow, you could have halved the cost of making the journey by car. (And don't assume there’ll be no one making a similar journey to yours – you'll be surprised...!)

What a waste - all those empty seats!

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:22:09 EST

Everyone's talking about the empty seats. Even the boss of the British Olympic Association calls them "unacceptable" – adding "this has to be sorted".

We agree. Although we've been talking about them for years.

There are 38million empty seats EVERY rush hour! (Car seats, that is).

Imagine how clear the UK's roads would be if we all filled our cars, rather than 90% of car commuters driving alone.

In fact, increasing our average car occupancy from 1.2 to just 1.4 people per car would decrease congestion by 10%.

Liftshare Week wins European award!

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:21:48 EST

It is really fantastic to see the environmental importance of car-sharing being recognised across Europe.

This week liftshare – which runs this and hundreds of other car-sharing websites around the UK - beat entries from across Europe to win its second international award in as many months.

Out of 262 projects for the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards 2012, submitted from 14 EU member states, liftshare won the Travelling category for its "liftshare Week 2011" campaign.

The winners were announced during the prestigious SEE Awards ceremony in Brussels on 19 June, in the presence of the EU Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger. The winning projects will now be showcased as examples of sustainable energy excellence to inspire others “throughout Europe and beyond to follow suit”.

"The liftshare Week campaign had a shoestring budget of just £200, yet managed to bring over 6,200 new people to try car-sharing in just five days," said founder Ali Clabburn (pictured, centre). "It was wonderful to have this herculean effort recognised on an international stage, and we hope it will inspire others to get involved in supporting car-sharing."

The ceremony was a highlight of the EU Sustainable Energy Week. Every year, hundreds of organisations take part in the EU Sustainable Energy Week, the reference event for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in Europe.

At the end of May, liftshare also won the inaugural Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel.

Half a million people sign up to share cars

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:35:29 EST

When Ali Clabburn pinned a scribbled note to a student notice board, asking for a lift home one Christmas holidays, little did he imagine that he was starting a car-sharing network which half a million people would join!

With 500,000 people deciding they'd rather share their cars than travel alone, it's clear that our attitudes to driving have changed. And while there are loads of benefits to lift-sharing, it’s those spiralling fuel prices which are the greatest impetus to behaviour change.

"As petrol prices go up, so attitudes towards sharing lifts evolve," says Ali. "Over 70,000 new members joined the liftshare network last year, and we expect this trend to continue.

"With daily headlines announcing that filling your car costs more than the weekly shop, or that petrol prices are rising three times faster than incomes, a growing number of people are finding that lift-sharing is the only viable way to get to work. But it is a real landmark to see our 500,000th member join the network!"

This car-sharing website is part of the nationwide liftshare network. There is at least one potential journey-match for over 86% of commutes registered on the network, although many have dozens. So this is the best place to be to find someone else going your way...!

You can beat the fuel strikes

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:29:59 EST

The queues are already snaking out of the petrol stations…

The warnings are that petrol could increase by 10p a litre…

It makes sense really: car-share with just one other person, and you will be halving that journey's fuel costs, and only having to queue half as often!

Are you a Superscrimper?

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:58:11 EST

If you are, you probably saw the Channel 4 programme last night.

But if you haven’t discovered it yet, Superscrimpers provides top tips for saving money in these economically difficult times.

Yesterday it looked at the huge amount of money people can save just by sharing their cars. You might like to check it out (see about 15 minutes in) - and then sign yourself up to this website (it's totally free) to start sharing and saving!

Looking to spend less in 2012?

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:55:08 EST

We all know that the new year can often bring with it a bit of a squeeze, after an indulgent festive period! And 2012 is no exception. Unfortunately though, it’s likely to continue past January...

Rail fares increase by 5.9% this month; petrol sales slumped in the first nine months of 2011 and look set to fall further as prices continue to rise; family incomes are impacted by salary squeezes and rising bills.

Why not make car-sharing a New Year’s resolution for 2012?

Regularly sharing your commute with just one other person can typically save you about £800 a year - not to mention provide great company for those gloomy winter days!

Be safer on the roads - don't travel alone

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:03:31 EST

As Road Safety Week begins, did you know that car-sharing can help make your journey safer?

Studies consistently show that the presence of a passenger in a car can significantly reduce the risk of road accidents.

Privilege Insurance found that having more than one person in a car improves driver concentration and reduces the risk of road crash by a half. (One in ten drivers say they have been involved in a road traffic accident when driving alone, compared to just one in 20 who were driving with a passenger.)

Our members back up these findings. One of them, Andy, admitted: "I get very bored and start falling asleep without having someone to talk to." While Glen said: "One of the greatest advantages of car-sharing is being able to take a break from the driving now and then, and if the week has been particularly tough, take a short snooze in the passenger seat."

Make sure your journeys are as safe as possible by sharing them.

"I save the equivalent of a £3,000 pay-rise!"

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:18:31 EST

"No matter how much you're doing to save on petrol and reduce your carbon footprint, there's always room for improvement," says Norman Hadley.

"My car-share team has been ploughing the same furrow every day for years, oblivious to the existence of another carpool doing a very similar journey.

"But my group was losing numbers. One of the guys got a new job closer to home and another retired, which left just two of us, and the carpool's efficiency started to fall.

"We could have stuck as a pair, but we decided to look for new liftshare matches. We soon made contact with another long-established carpool that had very similar start and finish times to us.

"The merged pool now has seven members - enough to guarantee that at least one car-full can be assembled every day, minimising costs, carbon and congestion. Some of the members work part-time or are away on business but on the rare days that more than five seats are needed, two cars can soon be mustered.

"We're trying to take the slogan 'Better Together' to its logical conclusion. Short of hiring a minibus, there’s probably not much more we could do!"

As a result of Norman's new car-share arrangements, he's calculated that his annual saving is the equivalent to a £3,000 pay-rise.

How much could you save?

Did you party like it was 1999?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:18:05 EST

How did you bring in the new millennium? Huge party? A quiet romantic evening? Maybe you were in the Land of Nod when the year 2000 made its grand entrance.

It doesn't seem that long ago really. And yet you were only paying 70p for a litre of petrol in those heady days!

Things have really changed over the last decade or so, haven't they? Yet it's easy to keep paying 1999 fuel prices – all you need to do is car-share with just one other person.

It's liftshare Week from 3-7 October. As you can see, this year's campaign takes a light-heartedly nostalgic look back at how much we used to pay to fill our cars, and how we still can if we just car-share with 1, 2 or 3 other people.

Sign up for free, have a search for others going the same way as you, and send them a request to share. It’s quick, it's easy, and if you do it between 26 September and 9 October you could even win yourself £250... happy sharing!

Were you cutting edge in 1993?

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:40:34 EST

They were awe-inspiring, weren't they? Those first mobile phones. Massive handsets with a great big aerial sticking out of the top. And as for texting – that didn't even exist yet.

Well, while you were showing off your cutting edge technology to your envious mates, you were also paying about 46p for a litre of petrol.

Hard to believe, I know. But remember that you still CAN pay 46p a litre. All you have to do is share your car (and the fuel costs) with two other people!

Not only can car-sharing save you a lot of money, its also great socially.

As Karen said: "It's saved me a fortune and it's very convenient. The friends I've made have an impact outside the liftshare as well: the ripple effect. The website works really well too."

Make sure you get some of that "ripple effect" for yourself in time for liftshare Week (3-7 October)...!

What were you up to in 1983?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:42:30 EST

Remember 1983? If you were around then, you were probably dancing to Michael Jackson's latest hit, Billie Jean. Did you wear ripped sweatshirts or were you more a fan of shoulder pads? Perhaps you were sporting a trendy mullet??

One thing is for sure: if you were driving in 1983, you were only paying about 37p a litre.

But before that brings you close to tears, there’s something you should know: you still CAN effectively pay 37p a litre for petrol, if you just share your car with three other people!

It's liftshare Week from 3-7 October, and we want drivers to relive those petrol prices they used to know back in the 1980s and 1990s, by simply sharing their cars with 1, 2 or 3 other people. Share your commute with just one other person, and you will be leaving your car at home 2 weeks out of every four – typically saving yourself about £800 a year.

Make sure you have found your car-sharer(s) in time for liftshare Week. It couldn’t be easier to discover the huge benefits of car-sharing (financial, social, environmental, stress-reducing). Just sign up to this free website, do a search for others going the same way, and then drop them a line to suggest you try sharing...

Hitch-hiking slumps while online car-sharing takes off

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:26:05 EST

The tradition of hitch-hiking is making way to the modern, online version of thumbing a lift.

An AA poll published today has found that the number of drivers unlikely to stop for a hitch-hiker has increased drastically from 75% to 91% in just two years.

Meanwhile, in the last 24 months, over 126,000 more people have joined car-share schemes within the liftshare network.

Online journey matching is certainly preferable for women. Whilst males are four times more likely to stop (8%) for a hitch-hiker than females (2%), there have been as many women as men join up to the online system.

"Drivers have given thumbs down to hitch-hiking," said The AA/s president, Edmund King. "As teenagers my brothers and I would hitch-hike around the UK and Europe but one rarely sees a hitch-hiker today. Some hikers have swopped their thumbs for a computer mouse in order to lift-share from the comfort of their home rather than taking their chances on a rainy roadside."

"We are seeing hundreds of new matches being made every day on liftshare.com," said liftshare's founder, Ali Clabburn. "I used to hitch a bit, but it is now so easy to find a match online - and it saves a massive amount of time!"

The full AA poll can be viewed here.

Petrol costs are dictating our driving habits

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:42:35 EST

Over the last 12 months, a staggering 1.3million drivers have given up driving – caused by an increase in fuel costs of almost one third! You may want to be sitting down to read this: the typical car owner is now spending over £1,700 per year to fill their car.

With motoring costs spiralling, drivers have been forced to change the way they drive – 75% of motorists have changed their behaviour, including driving more slowly. And 26% of motorists have admitted they no longer fill their tanks fully, while some 45% of motorists (or 16.5 million people) are now driving less.

A sharp-minded 7% have identified car-sharing as an easy and ideal alternative to battling the increasing fuel costs.

With more and more people choosing to join the 285,000 members currently on the liftshare network, now is an ideal time to run a search and see if anyone is going your way!

Drivers cutting down on car use - but sharing more

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:43:21 EST

An interesting statistic cropped up today...

According to an RAC report, about a third of UK drivers claim they have been forced to cut down on the number of car journeys they make, because of the price of petrol.

Meanwhile, the liftshare network has seen a 32.5% increase of the number of people signing up to car-share so far this year.

When petrol prices rise, drivers start thinking more about how they can still afford to make their journeys. And we always see an increase in the number of people discovering how much they can save by sharing their car.

As Pete O’Connor told us: “I travel between Plymouth and Exeter five times a week for work: that’s 500 miles of driving and 10 hours in the car each week. Car sharing saves me around £140 a month and having some company makes the journeys go far quicker.”

Car insurance rises 40% in a year

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:19:49 EST

Insurance premiums are proving the latest motoring cost to break records.

Research from the AA has shown that the typical shop-around comprehensive premium has increased in price by 40% in just 12 months! Younger drivers have faced the brunt of increases, with the typical premium of £2,431 being paid - more than 64% higher than 12 months ago.

The Commons Transport Committee identified fraud and injury claims as among the chief causes of rising premiums. Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance said: "Although the number of collisions on Britain's roads is falling, the number of claims for whiplash injury is rising." According to the Association of British Insurers, for every £1 paid in compensation, a further 87p is paid in legal costs.

Premiums look set to continue to rise throughout 2011; luckily Simon Douglas believes that increases over the rest of the year will be much smaller. One way to cope with these ever-increasing costs of motoring is to save money by car-sharing; so log on and find yourself a match!

Remember how much it cost to fill up ten years ago?

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:59:13 EST

Have a gold star if you said that both diesel and petrol were under 79 pence per litre in March 2001!

Put another way, prices have increased by 74% in a decade. And it costs a staggering £30 more to fill your small family car than it did in 2001. Even just five years ago, the cost of filling up in 2006 was £21 less than it is now.

Fuel prices are beginning to take their toll on motorists, with the breakdown service provider Green Flag stating that the number of fuel "run-outs" increased by 40% in January. This is part of a trend that has seen the number of people who drive off without paying for their fuel reach six a month at each of Britain’s 9,000 filling stations.

Much of the most recent increase in prices has been attributed to soaring oil prices and the increase of VAT in January. A further increase in fuel duty increase is planned for April; there is mounting pressure on the Government to abandon this increase, but no formal announcement has been made.

liftshare stars on ITV's 'Daybreak'!

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:47:00 EST

Car-sharing was in the national spotlight this morning, when we found ourselves on the sofa of ITV’s breakfast programme Daybreak.

liftshare founder Ali Clabburn was interviewed as part of a story about the rise in car-sharing as a way to combat record high fuel prices.

As a result of the programme, we’ve already seen a sudden increase in new members joining today. It’s great to see the word about car-sharing getting out there on national television – if you’d like to see the interview with Ali, just click here.

Cutting rural buses will make car-sharing essential

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:32:56 EST

Car-sharing is set to become an essential means of rural transport, if seven out of ten councils carry out their plans to cut their bus services.

According to the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), the cuts will leave many areas totally cut off from public transport.

“We very much support the CBT’s campaign to save the UK’s bus services,” said Ali Clabburn, liftshare’s founder. “But if local authorities do still go ahead and axe these services, bus users throughout the UK will need an affordable alternative.

“Many bus users don’t have access to a car, or can’t afford to drive everywhere. There are free, public car-share schemes throughout the UK which would keep their journeys affordable, safe, sociable and less polluting than driving alone.”

Stuart from Torrington has already found car-sharing to be invaluable where bus routes are lacking. He told us: “When you commute 48 miles to work, it can be hard work - when you have a seizure and can't drive for 12 months, it’s near on impossible. With the buses so rare, car-sharing was my only hope - luckily, the website came through.”