At 7:30 in the morning the last thing many of us may want is to share the car with a stranger. But, if in doing that we could save more than £1,000 a year in petrol, I think the choice is pretty obvious.

The number of commuters that use the internet for lift sharing has risen considerably in the last year. According to liftshare.com, the biggest UK site in this field, over 55,000 invitations to share a journey were sent between members of the various car-share schemes on the liftshare network. This is an increase in a 52% from the previous year.

The saving can be considerable. If we use the application ‘cost calculator’ in the liftshare web, which uses parameters as current vehicle value, miles per year, MOT or daily parking price among others, we get a saving of £1,188 per year in costs for a standard car and conditions, when sharing with just one more person.

The same variables give us an individual saving of £3.32 in a one-off average journey of 10 miles.

Once you create a free account and select your route there are several questions.  From the basic type of journey – if you are the one offering the lift in your car or requesting to go with someone else – to the frequency, purpose of the journey, comments, etc. Then the website will match your criteria with another client. A bit like a dating website, if you like, but with an economical appeal, rather than sentimental.

There are others websites that offer similar services: nationalcarshare.co.uk or mylifts.com, among others. They all offer a service to local authorities and companies, which use the systems sites to promote lift shares for their employees. This is how they make the money, according to The Guardian.

We should not dismiss the ecological side of this business either, another factor that may appeal to many members. Returning to the liftshare ‘cost calculator’, we obtain 1.3 tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emissions for an average car and travel mileage. So, by sharing the environmental cost, we all benefit. 

With prices above 130p per litre of fuel at the pump, and oil prices likely to go even higher, it may be not a bad idea to be sociable early the in morning.

Noel