Car Sharing - A Neglected Solution? Find Out More

Car Sharing solutions — Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 07, 2013 Traffic Jam in 23 de Maio Avenue, downtown Sao Paulo

With congestion continuing to rise on Britain’s roads a number of solutions have been proposed, raising tax being the main one. Car Sharing.

However, every day in Major Cities there are over 100 million empty seats on the roads. Worse still, the vast majority of these empty seats are during the rush hour, with average occupancy for commuting only 1.2.

….Car Share – A Neglected Solution?….

The solution appears to be simple – car share. This is further supported by recent research which found that over 50% of commuters would car share on their way to work if they could find someone suitable to share with.

Car sharing has often been talked about but only ever considered to be a small scale solution. Unlikely to have a significant effect on congestion levels.

Again, the evidence suggests otherwise. A 25% increase in car occupancy levels would result in the number of commuting cars on the road falling by 21%.

….Car Share – A Neglected Solution?….

Without the money to raise awareness of car sharing and the ways to go about finding someone to share with, the concept of car sharing is always going to be doomed to being an insignificant solution.

Why hasn’t the funding been provided by the government, particularly in light of the many reports that have come out over recent years highlighting the potential of car sharing?

One can only speculate but to governments the idea of car sharing isn’t so attractive. It generates no additional government revenue and is in fact likely to reduce it. Particularly with the decline in fuel consumption.

….Car Sharing – A Neglected Solution?….

Car sharing does hugely reduce petrol consumption for the individuals involved and if promoted in a large way then congestion and pollution could be reduced significantly.

Other benefits include reduced parking problems and the lower mileage done by each car means that they depreciate less rapidly.

However, one statistics that is overlooked is the impact of car sharing on road safety. For Example. The number of speeding fines handed out in the UK in 2005 reached the 2 million mark.

….Car Sharing – A Neglected Solution?….

Becoming involved in car share is very straightforward. Liftshare.org was established in 1997 and now has over 130,000 members one million journeys registered.

It’s also free to join. With a simple registration form to complete before you can register a journey and begin searching for travel companions. Whether you’re traveling to work, a festival or a sporting event car sharing is possible. More Tips on the same!