Nine reasons why you should consider carpooling  

Is it a good idea to share a car? You may be unaware of all the benefits of car sharing beyond saving a few pence on petrol, but you’d be surprised! There are loads of legit reasons to carpool, and we’ve listed nine of the best below. 

If you want to start sharing straight away, head over to Liftshare.com and join for free.

1. Save costs

Perhaps most significantly, carsharing does save you money. But it probably saves you a lot more cash than you think! The average Liftshare member saves £1,034 a year by splitting the cost of fuel with their carpool partner/s. That’s an extra £86 a month – what could you do with that? 

The 2024 Commuter Census revealed that cost is a big consideration for commuters,  with 40% of people picking it as the single largest factor for their choice of transport. 

Liftshare founder Ali Clabburn explained: “People used to think about trying to travel the quickest way and now they are definitely trying to find the cheapest way, because the cost of driving a car is prohibitive. On average, being a car owner now costs over £5,000 each year. So, many people are giving up a car and looking at alternatives such as buses and carsharing.” 

2. Make friends

Sharing a car with the same people on a regular basis means you’re bound to make friends! And, even if not, it’s always fun to have a bit of company on your journey. You might meet some interesting people, like Liftshare user Gulam:

“I’ve travelled with all sorts of different sharers, from a psychologist to a nutritionist, and I find it very interesting hearing different perspectives and learning from them. On some journeys, we’ve been talking so much, we have to pick up the conversation again on the return leg.” 

Discover what Gulam and other sharers like most about carpooling. 

3. Avoid parking fines

Well, sort of. No – you can’t get out of a fine just because you’re a Liftshare user. But, as Andy Moody, Founder and MD of pay-as-you-go car insurance company GoShorty, points out, reducing the number of cars on the road means less traffic and more legal parking spaces. 

4. Improve accessibility

Public transport still has major issues with accessibility: more than half of people with complex disabilities find public transport inadequate according to research by Sense, even though 72% use some form of public transport every day. 

Liftshare member Sian has struggled with accessibility in the past, but thinks carpooling has made things much easier for her. She says: “My Liftshare partner is an absolute delight. She has gone the extra mile, even offering to collect me from work when she’s off, and has also dropped me off right outside my work to save me from walking up a hill. I would say we’ve definitely made a friendship.”

5. Save the planet

Since Liftshare was founded in 1998, we’ve taken more than 360,000 tonnes of C02e emissions out of the atmosphere. The environmental benefits of carpooling are huge, with more than 5% of the UK’s total emissions coming from the commute alone.  

Travelling sustainably is a great way to do your part and reduce your carbon footprint easily.

6. Get a parking space

An increasing number of companies are offering Liftshare priority car parking, so carpooling could be a great way to shorten your walk to your desk. If your workplace doesn’t have priority carpool bays or an exclusive Liftshare community, Liftshare for Work has helped hundreds of businesses to get started.  

Priority parking or not, the more people who are ride sharing the better! For every person catching a lift there’ll be one extra space in the work car park, so spread the word about carsharing.

7. Helping others

Splitting the cost of a journey can help others get from A to B more easily and affordably. Our member Nicola joined Liftshare partly to reduce traffic congestion, but also felt proud to save someone else from excessive prices as well. Her sharer Dave was spending a fortune on the train before partnering with Nicola, who said, “It has helped me as I have company, which makes my journey more fun.”

8. Improve air quality

We all want to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, but you may be unaware just how harmful air pollution is! Dr Matt Sawyer, GP and Director of SEE Sustainability, calculated that the cumulative travel of GP staff and patients for one practice was taking more than eight years of life from people in the community. And this is just one example of the health effect air pollution is having on us all.

Of course, the fewer vehicles on the road, the lower the rate of emissions. Every car shared between just two people halves their emissions – which increases the life expectancy of everyone.

9. Halve your pay-per-mile tax or ULEZ costs 

You can share the cost of more than just fuel with your Liftshare partners. If you frequently pass in and out of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) then it would save you at least £6.25 every single time if you were to split the cost. 

Similarly, any future pay-per-mile car tax (where you pay more tax the more you use the roads), as has been mooted by the current government, would become much less of a burden for carpoolers – and may even save you money compared to the current tax system.

Heard enough and want to give it a go? Head to Liftshare.com and add your journey to get started.