|
The pair are engineers at Perkins Engines and share the 120
mile round trip from Rugby in Warwickshire to Peterborough five days
a week. They have both found it to be an extremely beneficial
arrangement for a range of reasons.
Financially, they have both halved
their outgoings on fuel, not to mention reduced wear and tear on
vehicles. Before car sharing, both were travelling 600 miles per
week, which equated to around 27,000 miles a year. The prospect of
halving these travel expenses was clearly a very attractive
inducement.
“There is much more to it than just
the money,” said Nick. “Being a passenger every other day offers a
great chance to unwind, especially after a hectic day. Making minor
detours to each other’s homes is no trouble at all when you realise
that you are not driving 120 miles every other day.”
To promote the second anniversary
of the car share website
www.carsharepeterborough.com Travelchoice
contacted all existing members to ask if anyone would like to
nominate their car share partner for being a particularly good
sharer.
The Travelchoice team received a
number of nominations and chose the one submitted by Nick as being
the best. As a result, members of the team made a surprise visit to
Perkins Engines to present Mitch with a certificate and a copy of
the Al Gore climate change film An Inconvenient Truth.
Peterborough City Council’s
Travelchoice car share website –
www.carsharepeterborough.com – allows
motorists to identify other commuters travelling the same journey
and arrange to car share. It was launched in April 2005 and in the
past two years more than 600 people have signed up to the successful
scheme.
“This scheme has helped widen the
travel choices that people have in Peterborough and significantly
helped reduce the number of cars on the city’s roads,” said Nicola
Francis, senior travel plan co-ordinator in the Travelchoice team.
“Car sharing is a great way to save money, reduce congestion and
help save the environment.
“People who want to offer or seek a
lift for regular or one-off journeys can visit the website and click
on the blue ‘share-it’ icon to register their journey. It really is
very simple and can greatly reduce fuel and parking costs.
Businesses can also support the scheme by enabling employees to
search among colleagues working solely within their organisation.”
May 2007 -
Peterborough UK Community Website
|
