London

Car Sharing, why the @=!* not?

Sharing a car will save you a lot of money

Written by Oly Beer / 06 Sep 2010

Local council and authorities have recently begun a drive to cut emissions and meet CO2 emission targets, resulting in the arrival of motivating (but annoying) road signs littering cities and the countryside encouraging drivers to share lifts with one another and so do their part for the environment. Great, more eco-warriors and moral panics – just what we all wanted.

Whether you’re going to work or sharing a lift to that party, it gives the average motorist the opportunity to ‘Save money, cut your carbon footprint and meet new friends’. What a wow factor. We’ve all seen the signs and we’ve all momentarily considers the message. How could we possibly resist? Especially when Care Share claims that, ‘sharing a daily commute saves many members well over £1000 a year’. In London alone there are 388,594 people signed up for car sharing. However, I’ve compiled a list of reasons why car sharing in theory is good but why in practise it’s not going to work.

1. You don’t like your work mates

2. Their morning breath repulses you.

3. Their car is shit.

4. They still have a tape deck and insist on singing along and out of time to their crap music.

5. You’re expected, against your will, to make small talk on the way.

6. You have to tag along for the school run to pick up their children after work. Great.

On a serious note though, owning and running a car is becoming increasingly expensive. The rise in car tax, petrol and insurance leaves some motorists debating the necessity of owning a car. The idea behind lift sharing is a good idea, in theory. Here’s how it works: You sign up to the Care Share website, find someone who does the same journey as you and hey presto! Although who wants to share a lift with someone you don’t really know? You could end up sharing a lift to work with Gary Glitter or worse, Cilla Black.

The ‘Good Going’ pledge is a London based campaign ‘promoting sustainable travel options in the capital with over 10,000 ‘Good Going pledge card members’. This scheme reverts to a 1900s method of transportation, cycling. Who ever said we need a contemporary method of travel in London? The fact of the matter is we had nothing to worry about. Alas, Boris Johnson and Barclays have teamed up and become our saviours, offering a self-service cycle hire 24/7. Cheers Boris.

It’s no secret that cars are becoming less and less affordable, no matter how many £99 service offers Kwik-fit try and sell us, you’re looking at a around a grand per year to run a car, without adding fuel into the equation. It leaves me wondering whether in the future will cars only be for the elite? Will everyone else have to walk or revert back to public transport – which it’s doubtful is any quicker than taking a horse and cart? Would we have to pay road tax for our carts? I bet we would. My advice: cycle! Do your bit for the environment, lose a few pounds, turn up sweaty for work; who really cares if you stink?