Car Share Schemes

Car Share Schemes Guide

Car sharing, also known as “car pooling” and “lift sharing” has enjoyed a surge in popularity in the UK as motorists look to save on their driving expenses. However, how can car sharing be applied to a business?

Here we take a look at car share schemes including how to set them up and how to run them effectively.

What is car sharing?

According to Liftshare.com, the average speed in Greater London is a mere nine miles per hour: caused by the constant congestion on the roads. The delays impact the economy and the biggest cause of the problem is motorists driving one vehicle alone.

One way to tackle this problem is to encourage car sharing among your employees: and with car pooling you could enjoy more immediate benefits for your business too. It could save your company money by removing or reducing car parking spaces; it could help to relieve traffic congestion; could contribute towards sustainability targets; and it could widen your recruitment market.

In addition, car share schemes can also benefit your employees. There could be significant savings by sharing the costs of petrol and reducing vehicle maintenance; it could provide time savings if there is priority parking available; and it could enable those who do not have a car to have another transport option.

Where to start when setting up a car share scheme

There are a number of steps to take when planning a car share scheme:

- Is it right for your business: Do you have a significant number of staff that are driving to work and is there limited parking available? Is local traffic congestion causing members of staff to be late to work?

- Background information: Before implementing a car share scheme do a little background research to discover how your staff currently travel to work; and the attitudes your staff have towards car sharing. You might want to conduct travel surveys or establish focus groups to ensure it will be a profitable move for your business. Try and develop a clear business case that will outline both the potential benefits and the potential costs of a car share scheme.

So how do you establish a car share scheme?

There are several car share scheme options available:

- Public groups: You might want your employees to join a larger car share scheme in the local area that may also involve other organisations.

- Private schemes: This follows the same area-wide format but will only match employees at your workplace with other employees from the same company.

- Branded schemes: This is when a car share scheme is set up specifically for an organisation and will allow employees to share with those from the same organisation.

When establishing a car share scheme you may want to consider the following:

- A car share co-ordinator: Someone who will deal with all aspects of car sharing for your business.

- Incentives: These could include: cash for sharing on a daily basis; prize draws; discounts on parking charges and local amenities; extra annual leave; or advantageous parking locations for car share users.

How much will car share schemes cost?

It is worthwhile establishing a clear business plan to see how much the car share scheme will cost: and whether the costs of involving a car sharing firm will be outweighed by the benefits of saving your business and employees money. Also consider whether you can get any help to pay for these costs: for example, Transport for London will match funds up to £1,000 if you are developing a car share scheme as part of a business travel plan.