A new national smarter travel initiative has been launched in the form of a car sharing website developed by the National Transport Authority and already 1,000 people are sharing lifts to and from work, thanks to the site.
Called Carsharing.ie, the service is already being used by staff in a number of big organisations, such as Accenture, Cherrywood Business Park, Hewlett Packard, NUI Maynooth, NUI Galway, Microsoft and Waterford Institute of Technology.
Carsharing.ie is free to use by individuals, sports clubs, festival or event organisers and workplaces nationwide to set up their own car sharing groups.
The site has interactive maps to help people plan their journeys and get in contact with other members of their group. Members can also join the public group if they want to search in a wider pool of drivers and lift seekers, whether their journey is a regular trip or a one-off arrangement.
There appears to be an appetite for car sharing as an option for travel to work. In a survey of 25 ‘Smarter Travel Workplaces’ partners, 17pc of respondents indicated that they occasionally car share on the journey to work.
Nearly half (44pc) of car drivers indicated they would consider car sharing as a commuting option. The 2006 Census showed that 6pc of commuters said they regularly car share on the journey to work.
Photo: Public and Commuting Transport Minister Alan Kelly, TD, with Caleb Powell, IRFU, Paddy McCaul, FAI, and Christy Cooney, GAA, who are encouraging players and supporters nationwide to car share going to and from fixtures or simply when ferrying players around to the same venues from week to week
