How do fellow pistonheaders feel about car sharing?
Discussion
I've taken the following passage from www.nationalcarshare.co.uk/
"Lift sharing", "ride-sharing", "car-sharing" or "carpooling" - it doesn't matter what you call it, it boils down to the same thing - two or more people sharing a car to get from A to B rather than driving alone. The benefits are numerous both for yourself, your family, your community and the environment. You save money on running costs, you save time looking for parking spaces and you help to save the planet by reducing your carbon footprint.
How do you feel about car sharing?
I've car-shared a few times, with different folks, for my commute. On the plus side for me, it is cheaper. On the negative side for me, it is less convenient, it means having to talk to someone about work and other stuff. I'm a bit ambivalent in terms of what it means for the planet.
Would I do it again? Yes, if I could find someone who wanted to car-share too, lived near me, was flexible in terms of arrangements, and didn't bore me.
Why would I car share? Because I have a long commute and it would cut my fuel costs.
Will it happen? I'd say it's highly unlikely that it will ever happen on a frequent or regular basis.
p.s. This is not a survey.
"Lift sharing", "ride-sharing", "car-sharing" or "carpooling" - it doesn't matter what you call it, it boils down to the same thing - two or more people sharing a car to get from A to B rather than driving alone. The benefits are numerous both for yourself, your family, your community and the environment. You save money on running costs, you save time looking for parking spaces and you help to save the planet by reducing your carbon footprint.
How do you feel about car sharing?
I've car-shared a few times, with different folks, for my commute. On the plus side for me, it is cheaper. On the negative side for me, it is less convenient, it means having to talk to someone about work and other stuff. I'm a bit ambivalent in terms of what it means for the planet.
Would I do it again? Yes, if I could find someone who wanted to car-share too, lived near me, was flexible in terms of arrangements, and didn't bore me.
Why would I car share? Because I have a long commute and it would cut my fuel costs.
Will it happen? I'd say it's highly unlikely that it will ever happen on a frequent or regular basis.
p.s. This is not a survey.
Wasnt there a research scientist who asked about this the other week?
Anyway, I enjoy my personal space and privacy too much to share my car with anyone other than family and friends. I Might be charitable and give someone a lift if it rains or their car is broken down but I dont want it to be a regular thing.
They might not like how I drive. They might not like my taste in music. They might not be respectful of my car and my things. They might agree to pay towards fuel, but what about some tyres, or a service, or pay half the MoT or road tax or insurance?
And I dont think I could easily get away with "sorry, not picking you up today, I'm coming in by motorbike because it's turned out its a nice day"
Anyway, I enjoy my personal space and privacy too much to share my car with anyone other than family and friends. I Might be charitable and give someone a lift if it rains or their car is broken down but I dont want it to be a regular thing.
They might not like how I drive. They might not like my taste in music. They might not be respectful of my car and my things. They might agree to pay towards fuel, but what about some tyres, or a service, or pay half the MoT or road tax or insurance?
And I dont think I could easily get away with "sorry, not picking you up today, I'm coming in by motorbike because it's turned out its a nice day"
Edited by thatdude on Wednesday 21st May 12:02
I'm sure I've answered this before...!
You'll now get a lot of answers about how people won't wait 10 minutes for their friend to turn up etc etc. It WILL be inconvenient. It's not about the environment or saving the planet, but about reducing congestion and saving money. The more people that car share, the fewer the cars on the road, the quicker it would be for everyone.
I cycle commute in London and pass miles of stationary cars; my estimate 95% with single occupancy. They'll all get there much quicker if there were fewer cars. Next time you're stuck in a line of cars, imagine how much quicker you'd get past the lights if the occupancy doubled and the cars halved.
It's classic Prisoner's Dilemma. The reasoning goes that...why should I, nobody else does, it is inconvenient of me to do so. Net result, nobody does it and EVERYONE is worse off because of it.
You'll now get a lot of answers about how people won't wait 10 minutes for their friend to turn up etc etc. It WILL be inconvenient. It's not about the environment or saving the planet, but about reducing congestion and saving money. The more people that car share, the fewer the cars on the road, the quicker it would be for everyone.
I cycle commute in London and pass miles of stationary cars; my estimate 95% with single occupancy. They'll all get there much quicker if there were fewer cars. Next time you're stuck in a line of cars, imagine how much quicker you'd get past the lights if the occupancy doubled and the cars halved.
It's classic Prisoner's Dilemma. The reasoning goes that...why should I, nobody else does, it is inconvenient of me to do so. Net result, nobody does it and EVERYONE is worse off because of it.
Edited by 0markymark0 on Wednesday 21st May 12:05
Edited by 0markymark0 on Wednesday 21st May 12:10
Been car sharing for a few years with the same chap now, become good friends along the way. He is very much not a car bloke with a string of Fiesta's and we've moved onto a Polo Diesel now. For a couple of years another chap joined the pool and that just didn't work as well, lots more time spent waiting both ends of the day. And three blokes in a Fiesta for a 50 mile each way commute wasn't fun either.
Back to the 2 of us now and all good, saves a good chunk of money a month and miles on the car!
Back to the 2 of us now and all good, saves a good chunk of money a month and miles on the car!
thatdude said:
Anyway, I enjoy my personal space and privacy too much to share my car with anyone other than family and friends. I Might be charitable and give someone a lift if it rains or their car is broken down but I dont want it to be a regular thing.
They might not like how I drive. They might not like my taste in music. They might not be respectful of my car and my things. They might agree to pay towards fuel, but what about some tyres, or a service, or pay half the MoT or road tax or insurance?
Without reading any further, I can imagine that this will be a pretty popular sentiment on PH...They might not like how I drive. They might not like my taste in music. They might not be respectful of my car and my things. They might agree to pay towards fuel, but what about some tyres, or a service, or pay half the MoT or road tax or insurance?
I car share everyday. My mate lives in the same apartment complex and we work in the same office. Much prefer it to going in on my own.
We are mates outside of work as well which is why it works. Petrol costs f
k all here so the only advantage to us is social. Doubt I could do the same with someone who is merely a colleague.
We are mates outside of work as well which is why it works. Petrol costs f
k all here so the only advantage to us is social. Doubt I could do the same with someone who is merely a colleague.I very much like my own company and my house is quite busy and loud of a morning and an evening so I see the 30-45 mins in the car in the morning and evening as a bit of solitude for myself where I can listen to what I want to listen to on the radio and generally have some me time so; given that, I don't think I would be up for car sharing.
I've just started car sharing this week. It's going well so far. We both don't talk all the time and just listen to music/radio. The guy only lives around the corner is happy for me to pick him up and drop him off in a bus stop on the way back which is great. We decided to do it week by week so it's fair.
When it's his turn next week i have a 5 minute walk each way and that's it. I have found you do have to do similar hours and have to be organised with your work calender and look the next day ahead to see if you have any meetings that go on later then normal.
When it's his turn next week i have a 5 minute walk each way and that's it. I have found you do have to do similar hours and have to be organised with your work calender and look the next day ahead to see if you have any meetings that go on later then normal.
I used to share a flat with a guy I worked with, the flat was around a mile from the office.
I don't think we car shared once (looking back I probably should've walked) - I went in slightly earlier than he did and that was enough to see both our cars in the car park every day
IMO if you're funding a car it's still costing you money sat on the drive (tax, insurance etc) whether you drive it to work or not. I figure you're not actually getting the most value from the running costs with it sat on your drive.
I don't think we car shared once (looking back I probably should've walked) - I went in slightly earlier than he did and that was enough to see both our cars in the car park every day
IMO if you're funding a car it's still costing you money sat on the drive (tax, insurance etc) whether you drive it to work or not. I figure you're not actually getting the most value from the running costs with it sat on your drive.
Did it for about three months last year and it got on my nerves to be honest, the bloke I did it with was always sending texts saying he was 'running late', then there would be days he was at the dentist or the doctors so couldn't make it. In all that time, we only did a full week about twice with him.
Saved a bit of money in petrol, but at the cost of having to listen to his fking Heart FM on his stereo. Christ, the banality of the presenters and the awful, awful music was just way to much. Who listens to that st? 
He moved to nearer work in the end which suited me fine.
Saved a bit of money in petrol, but at the cost of having to listen to his f
king Heart FM on his stereo. Christ, the banality of the presenters and the awful, awful music was just way to much. Who listens to that st? He moved to nearer work in the end which suited me fine.
I car shared for years when I had a 20 mile commute. I'd pick someone I like, and we'd take turns - one week driving one week as a passenger. It worked well. We'd plan around meetings and were happy to skip a day if one of us had something else to do on the way home or something.
I stopped car sharing because I moved so that for less petrol money I could drive something that does 12mpg.
I stopped car sharing because I moved so that for less petrol money I could drive something that does 12mpg.
I have a colleague who lives round the corner (we only moved local last year) We don't car share with him but he asks for a lift every Friday due to his other half working part-time and she "may need" the car for the kids. It was novel at first and he is generally a good laugh but then when the school holidays arrive the lifts increase to daily. The guy smokes and has a cig whilst walking to our house which means the car smells inside and he drops the kids off @ nursery at a certain time so on occasion we have been waiting for him which is frustrating when you are wanting to beat traffic. The last problem is he mostly leaves it until after 10 p.m to ask for a lift.
It is quickly becoming annoying to the point where i just turn the radio up and don't really chat anymore. I can be pretty blunt and have bit my tongue so far - but even so he is one of those people who doesn't get hints!
It is quickly becoming annoying to the point where i just turn the radio up and don't really chat anymore. I can be pretty blunt and have bit my tongue so far - but even so he is one of those people who doesn't get hints!
Pretty much as per 'thatdude' really.
I car shared once a very long time ago as a student on a summer job. My car, so I drove. Chap was OK but we had nothing in common and I only did it because I was asked nicely and it helped with fuel.
Reasonably recently, I shared a Hilux 'ute' for a job in Australia. The first two occupants just didn't work. Luckily, they both left the job. The next two were car sharing gold. Just so easy to get along with and happy to be flexible. But I'd say they were the exception.
Back in the UK, I get to work very early to beat the traffic and not many would tolerate that. I leave by 4pm to collect my children from nursery / after-school club, so that would be a hindrance. I never have the radio on and I much prefer a window open to A/C unless it's a (fast) motorway.
But, more importantly, it's MY car, MY time, MY space. And that means so much more to me than having to share for whatever reason.
I car shared once a very long time ago as a student on a summer job. My car, so I drove. Chap was OK but we had nothing in common and I only did it because I was asked nicely and it helped with fuel.
Reasonably recently, I shared a Hilux 'ute' for a job in Australia. The first two occupants just didn't work. Luckily, they both left the job. The next two were car sharing gold. Just so easy to get along with and happy to be flexible. But I'd say they were the exception.
Back in the UK, I get to work very early to beat the traffic and not many would tolerate that. I leave by 4pm to collect my children from nursery / after-school club, so that would be a hindrance. I never have the radio on and I much prefer a window open to A/C unless it's a (fast) motorway.
But, more importantly, it's MY car, MY time, MY space. And that means so much more to me than having to share for whatever reason.
I'm not sure - it wouldn't work for me now, my working day is to flexible / chaotic, sometimes I'm in for 8am, sometimes 930am, sometimes I go straight to a job, sometimes I need to drop my Son off or pick him up etc etc etc - and I'm a terrible time keeper - I'd be murdered inside a week and frankly not a court in the land would convict them.
But say I worked a 9-5 it would really depend on the arseache factor - next door neighbour, a dear friend of 30 years working in the same building - of course, why not.
But when you start including waiting about, or semi-commuting to an agreed meeting point and working around other peoples holidays and the whole debacle at Christmas when some are veritable Bob Cratchit's and some seem to have enough time off at Christmas they don't bother adjusting their office clock to GMT. Well your arseache factor is roughly the same as getting on the bus/train so it would really have to pay - I know London season ticket prices are roughly that of a 3 bed semi in Yorkshire, but here there's a brilliant local train network that seems to cost £3.10 a day to go anywhere, at peaktimes and monthly passes are about £50 - my current commuting costs are roughly £20 a month at the moment in fuel in a car that's full maintained and funded by my employer - even the BIK.
But say I worked a 9-5 it would really depend on the arseache factor - next door neighbour, a dear friend of 30 years working in the same building - of course, why not.
But when you start including waiting about, or semi-commuting to an agreed meeting point and working around other peoples holidays and the whole debacle at Christmas when some are veritable Bob Cratchit's and some seem to have enough time off at Christmas they don't bother adjusting their office clock to GMT. Well your arseache factor is roughly the same as getting on the bus/train so it would really have to pay - I know London season ticket prices are roughly that of a 3 bed semi in Yorkshire, but here there's a brilliant local train network that seems to cost £3.10 a day to go anywhere, at peaktimes and monthly passes are about £50 - my current commuting costs are roughly £20 a month at the moment in fuel in a car that's full maintained and funded by my employer - even the BIK.
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