Save money and the environment by lift sharing

May 23, 2007 – 1:14 pm

Every day in the UK there are around 10 million empty car seats on the road. Which is expansive and bad news for the environment. The simplest way to solve this growing problem is to use a lift sharing website. From my internet research I found Car-pool.co.uk; you can list for a UK journey you would like to make or you can post a UK journey you are going to make. And the website will match people up.

If you are just looking for someone to share the lift to work in the morning then visit your regional section of Gumtree.com  and under the community section there is a bit for people to list rideshares.

It does sound like a lot of hassel but consider this - Including wear and tear the cost of driving an average car is about 20p per mile (and rising). Driving 5000 miles to work each year costs around £1000 not including your standing or any parking charges. If you drive a 20 mile round trip each day to work, over a typical year (240 days) you could save £360 with a contribution from a passenger.

Other ideas

Depending on what part of the country you live in you could join a car club like Whizzgo.co.uk ( Leeds, London, Brighton, Liverpool, Southampton, York, Manchester, Sheffield) or Zipcar.com.

You pay a max of £4.95 per hour for Whizzgo and the hoursly rate covers all driving expenses - insurance, fuel, maintenance, servicing, road tax, cleaning and 24hr roadside assistance. All you have to do is turn up and drive!

Paying by the hour means you can hire a car just when you really need it, which is far cheaper and environmentally friendly than owning a car.

Another option could be to hire a car long term, the longer you hire them the cheaper they usually get. For a full list of hire cars try here - Cheap Hire Car Companies