Get car sharing in Cambridgeshire and do your bit to ease congestion

Travel 4 Cambridgeshire is highlighting the benefits of car sharing. (Image: Archant)

And what’s worse is when you know you’ve taken all the right precautions – prepared your lunch the night before, ironed your shirt at lightning fast speed and strolled out the door in what should be ample time, simply to fall foul of the congested roads once again.

The problem is, the situation is continuing to get worse in and around the city – too many vehicles and not enough space for them to move freely in.

And all those engines just contribute further to the amount of pollution entering the atmosphere – bad news for the future! So what’s the answer?

Well, it would be foolish to think that we can suddenly put an end to this game of chess we call ‘driving to work’ (especially in town), but we certainly can help to make it better. How? By car sharing.

Imagine how many fewer cars there will be on our roads if four people hop in one car, rather than all hopping in separate cars.

And think of the good they’ll be doing for the environment, as well as the money each of them will save – up to 75 per cent of their petrol bill if they share with three others. It’s a win win!

But what happens if you want to car share, but don’t know anybody to do it with?

That’s where Travel 4 Cambridgeshire comes in... Our CamShare car sharing service matches you up with potential partners as a driver or passenger. Once matched, you can choose to journey share as little or as often as you like, with whoever you like! All you need to do is sign up for free.

Businesses, too, can set up their own car sharing groups, meaning you can share lifts with people who sit in the same office as you.

As a result, your work’s car park will also become a more tranquil place, where images of five cars all trying to cram in to one final space become nothing but distant memories.

So why are we saying all of this? Firstly, we think that if more people can share lifts, then there will be much more cruising and far less stop starting, making Cambridgeshire a county full of happier commuters on safer roads.

Not only this, from October 5-9, it is the official ‘Camshare Week,’ making it the perfect time to help lower the congestion and start sharing!

You might even be like Peter Kay in his Car Share series and have some great fun doing it. So what are you waiting for?

Richard Hampton, travel plan adviser for Travel 4 Cambridgeshire, said: “Many businesses have car parking problems and car sharing can go a long way to easing the pressure, whilst also improving what can become a poor image of a company if staff are forced to park in inconvenient places like verges.

“Promoting car sharing in the workplace can contribute to improve the overall issue of congestion, therefore improving transport in Cambridgeshire which has obvious economic benefits for local enterprise.

“The real plus point for commuters is the significant money saving from sharing petrol costs. Sharing with one person can halve costs, sharing with three others can reduce costs by 75 per cent. Many sharers really enjoy the social element and the opportunity to meet new people and maybe even new friends.

“Travel for Cambridgeshire manage CamShare, the free car sharing website for Cambridgeshire, and the site can be used by both commuters and businesses alike.

“Businesses can either choose to setup a private scheme – obviously with associated costs - which means staff can opt to choose only with their colleagues, or a business can simply promote the public scheme to staff.

“Give it a go. You can choose who you share with and you don’t have to share every day – try it out – you may love it!”

For more information on Travel 4 Cambridgeshire, including the grant funding opportunities on offer to individuals and businesses to help get more people cycling to work (again cutting down on congestion and emissions, while keeping pounds in pockets), visit their grants page. They must be applied for by December 31 2015.