Guidance

Lift sharing: local authority toolkit

Published 13 April 2022

Lift sharing, also known as car sharing, car-pooling or ride sharing is the coordinated matching up of lifts between drivers and passengers who share a common or similar route.

It has the potential to significantly reduce emissions from travel, particularly if used by large numbers of people making repeat journeys with others to a common destination – such as commuting to offices, business or industrial parks, or travelling to shows or festivals. This advice uses the term lift sharing to refer to all types of schemes.

DfT analysis identified that increasing car occupancy from current levels of 1.55 people to 1.7 could save nearly 3 MtCO2e per year by 2030. This is roughly equivalent to the amount currently emitted from all UK buses in a year.

Types of lift sharing schemes

The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy identified a number of models of lift sharing schemes.

Informal lift sharing

Informal lift sharing (for example carpooling) is arranged directly with friends, neighbours or colleagues who share a similar route. Local authorities do not have a role in this type of lift sharing, apart from promoting this behaviour through communication campaigns and encouraging carpooling among their own staff.

Commercial lift sharing platforms

This is arranged and managed through an app or website, which automatically matches users’ journeys. Some lift sharing platforms charge a fee for bringing drivers and sharers together. Users may or may not know each other. Local authorities can play an organisational or coordinating role in formal lift sharing schemes.

These schemes operate in one of two main ways, as open or closed schemes.

Open lift sharing schemes

Open lift sharing schemes (such as BlaBlaCar, GoCarShare or Liftshare) are available to the public to register and offer lifts through a platform that connects drivers with passengers.

Users are often moderated by the organiser for additional safety and security and it is possible to match with strangers. Authorities can set up branded open lift sharing schemes for their area that are open to local users.

Closed lift sharing schemes

Closed lift sharing schemes (for example, Liftshare, Jambusters or KINTO) are set up for a particular employer, area, or group, such as an industrial estate or business park.

Only members of the group or staff of the organisation can join and connect with others to share lifts.

Authorities can set up a closed lift sharing group for staff use and can promote their use to local businesses.

CoMoUK explains more about the features and benefits of lift sharing. The primary consideration for any lift sharing scheme is how to match potential sharers. Other considerations include:

• the approach should be appropriate for the scale of the scheme being considered and an internal scheme may require a less formal approach than an open community scheme
• software needs to be sufficiently reliable to build confidence in the scheme and authorities may wish to include a target for this in procurement documents
• all closed internal schemes systems will require administrative and promotional support from local authority officers, as will some open schemes
• use of a map as part of the matching service increases effectiveness, allowing users to see common origins, arrange on-route pickups and link with other sustainable transport options

Ride pooling (also known as ride-hailing), is not covered here. Ride pooling is a service, generally offered through an app, where users can book a commercially-operated car (such as a taxi) that they are prepared to share with an unknown third party.

The benefits of lift sharing

Lift sharing increases vehicle occupancy and reduces the number of vehicles required by travellers, reducing carbon emissions.

Local authorities can influence modal shift and encourage higher vehicle occupancy rates by participating in or promoting schemes to increase the scale of benefits.

Carbon savings from lift sharing

The Transport decarbonisation plan committed to taking action to increase average road vehicle occupancy by 2030.

Research by Liftshare suggests that each 1% increase in vehicle occupancy saves 2.5 billion car miles and 0.75MtCO2.

Based on 2011 census data, Liftshare also suggest that increasing vehicle occupancy by 1% annually between 2022 and 2030 would remove 1.25 million cars from the road and result in an annual reduction in CO2 of 1.25Mt.

Research by BlaBlaCar & Le Bipe across 8 European countries suggests that through lift sharing, the number of people travelling increased from 1.9 to 3.9 people per car on average and delivered direct CO2 savings of 0.9MtCO2, a 26% emissions reduction.

When indirect emissions savings from informal arrangements outside of its platforms were included, savings increased to an estimated 1.6MtCO2 in 2018.

A 2020 lift sharing study assessed lifetime emissions and the impact of lift sharing in the Netherlands, US and Canada. It found that even when considering lifecycle emissions, lift sharing has a net positive effect on reducing CO2 emissions from transport, although this is lower than other studies have indicated.

Implementing lift sharing across a wider area

Carshare Devon encompasses 10 schemes operated by councils, NHS Foundation Trusts, businesses and communities across the county. The scheme aims to help residents, businesses and staff to save money and help reduce carbon emissions.

Carshare Devon is operated by Mobilityways, who provide an open lift sharing platform for residents, as well as organisation-specific closed groups.

Since the launch of the scheme in 2003, Mobilityways estimates that the scheme has reduced miles travelled by 27 million, avoided the release of around 6 million tonnes of CO2 and saved participants £6.9 million in fuel costs.

Wider benefits of lift sharing

In addition to decarbonisation, lift sharing can deliver significant wider benefits for local authorities, organisations and the public by reducing congestion.

Benefits for local authority policy

The 2019 shared mobility report and the 2019 public attitudes tracker identify some of the wider benefits that lift sharing can offer for local authorities. Lift sharing can:

• contribute to sustainability and environmental targets
• reduce congestion at main junctions and during peak hours
• improve air quality through fewer cars on the road and less congestion
• reduce parking demand in towns and at business centres
• support objectives to increase accessibility to essential services by residents (such as improving opportunities to access employment outside public transport operating hours)

Benefits for businesses

Lift sharing can benefit organisations that utilise these schemes by:

• helping organisations to save money through the reduced need for parking spaces
• freeing up parking spaces for those unable to lift share
• reducing commuting emissions
• improving corporate image and demonstrating commitment to corporate social responsibility
• contributing towards environmental accreditation standards, such as ISO 14001
• supporting recruitment and retention
• creating better internal social networks, creating stronger social bonds between employees

Benefits for users and communities

Lift sharing can benefit users by:

• reducing travel costs – in the National Travel Survey, 67% of respondents stated that lift sharing would be cheaper than travelling alone, while drivers can be recompensed any expenditure from the journey, they cannot make a profit
• improving the accessibility of public (and other) transport modes, to enable door-to-door travel
• offering flexible arrangements that suit all parties, including allowing users to share only with people they know
• freeing up household cars for other family members
• reducing travel and parking time, particularly if priority parking is provided
• greater freedom for those unable to access a private vehicle
• offering social benefits through journey sharing

The Midlands Connect 2022 report on the future of rural mobility gives examples of the benefits of lift sharing alongside other low carbon transport models. It has a particular focus on effective interventions in rural areas.

Actions for local authorities

Local authorities can demonstrate leadership by setting up and promoting lift sharing schemes for staff, residents and businesses.

Local authority involvement can add value to lift sharing schemes by bringing diverse stakeholder groups (including businesses and public sector employers) together to provide or increase economies of scale. They can also provide advice and endorsement to ensure that the solution meets local needs.

Incorporating lift sharing and other shared mobility options within a Local Transport Plan (LTP) or other transport plans and strategies will ensure a holistic approach to transport decarbonisation and avoid conflict with other strategic priorities.

Encouraging lift sharing: Eastleigh Borough Council

As part of an office move, Eastleigh wanted to focus on sustainable transport and commuting options. All staff who completed the annual travel survey were offered a personalised travel plan to the new office.

After the travel plans had been delivered, follow-up surveys were conducted with staff. Results showed that single occupant vehicle use had decreased by 32%, while cycling and train use had increased significantly. Travel plans are now offered to all new starters as part of their induction.

1. Set up or procure a lift sharing service

An early action as part of developing a liftsharing scheme will be to identify the scope (closed or open) and develop the business case. Data on how people currently travel to and from work will help support scheme design.

This could include information on any informal lift sharing already occurring, staff attitudes towards lift sharing and other sustainable travel options and measures that staff feel would encourage them to lift share.

Oxfordshire County Council has produced guidance on travel plan monitoring, including an example travel plan survey.

Plans will need to demonstrate how lift sharing will have a positive effect on car occupancy, carbon emissions, social exclusion, congestion, access to services and cost of living. Benefits to highlight include:

• the carbon emissions savings from the commute and business travel
• cost savings associated with car parking, freeing up space from reduced parking demand
• improved efficiency of operation (such as support to recruitment and retention issues)

Setting up informal lift sharing

Informal registers, spreadsheets or databases that enable participants to self-match or be matched by a coordinator may be better suited to smaller, closed schemes or trials before an authority commits to procuring a larger scheme.

These schemes can be arranged and managed internally, with no need for procurement or additional resource.

The advantages of informal approaches are that:

• they are simple and low cost to set up
• participants and staff can choose their own lift sharing partners
• results can be positive for modal shift and increasing occupancy for relatively little investment

The disadvantages are that:

• monitoring performance and effectiveness can be difficult
• they can lack credibility with staff
• they require a coordinator to manage and match participants and if successful can be time intensive to administer

Procuring a commercial lift sharing platform

If an informal lift sharing scheme is becoming difficult to manage, or the authority wants to open a scheme for council staff up to the community or other users then it may be appropriate to procure a liftsharing service.

These platforms can be customised and branded to match existing programmes and can be either openly available to local users or closed to specific groups (such as council staff). Some platforms operate both open and closed groups.

Gathering data on closed schemes already operating within business parks or large employers will be important, as this may affect engagement with any new or expanded schemes.

Allowing local businesses and the community to access a local authority endorsed lift sharing scheme will have a greater impact on vehicle occupancy, congestion, carbon emissions and air quality than offering a closed scheme for staff only.

The advantages of using a commercial liftsharing operator are that:

• it is a quick and cost effective way to start lift sharing
• the operator provides reliable technology
• integration with existing, wider networks can be built in
• they can bring multiple schemes together under one brand
• they require less officer resource to administer

The disadvantages are that:

• sites can be branded but may not be tailored to the needs of the group
• it will be more expensive than informal options

Implementing lift sharing: Ocado

Ocado set up an internal lift sharing scheme for its fulfilment centre staff. It is accessible through a dual carriageway, limiting some sustainable transport options.

The scheme is also used to attract and retain staff. New starters are given time to sign up and find matches and the company offers incentives such as free breakfasts, parking spaces and competitions to encourage sign up.

Liftshare estimates the scheme has saved 1,726 tonnes of CO2, 7.8 million miles and £1.9 million in costs for members.

2. Communicate, engage and promote

Effective marketing and promotion are important to ensure the success of transport decarbonisation interventions that require users to change their behaviour.

Travel survey responses or the national travel attitudes study may provide ideas to help shape the messaging for engagement and promotion.

Sustained community engagement activity can help identify and involve new groups and increase the impacts of lift sharing. However, this activity needs to be supported – providing resources and incentives will help to encourage participation.

Coordinators and champions

A manager or scheme coordinator is required to ensure the smooth running of the scheme. They are responsible for the day-to-day management, including responding to questions and requests from users, promotion, gathering and assessing data and monitoring the scheme.

Coordinators and champion roles may form part of an existing climate, transport or engagement officer role in a local authority, or in the case of internal schemes, may be held by parking or facilities managers.

For open or public schemes, champions and coordinators are the public advocates of the scheme to their peers, the media and the groups they represent. They should be committed to making it a success. Ideally, champions will be well known individuals, such as elected members, community leaders or local business leaders.

Dedicated parking bays

Dedicated parking spaces in staff or public car parks for lift sharers can play a significant role in influencing people to join. This can be particularly effective if the spaces designated are seen as more desirable – positioned closer to building entrances or shops.

Marked reserved bays add credibility and send a clear message to potential users that the scheme is supported by the landowner. Spaces need to be clearly signed, potentially using different colours and display a lift sharing logo.

Dedicated spaces will need enforcing to ensure that they are only used by lift sharers. An authority may need to make changes to traffic regulation orders (TROs), car park orders or its staff parking policy to support dedicating ‘lift sharing only’ bays.

In closed staff schemes these spaces can be managed by issuing specific lift sharing parking permits. Another approach is to designate part of a car park for lift sharers and monitor entry. This approach has the added benefit of recording the daily number of lift sharers and providing data for incentives.

Implementing lift sharing: Get Around Milton Keynes

Around 60% of residents in Milton Keynes also work there. Get Around Milton Keynes has implemented an open lift sharing scheme for residents who drive to work to help reduce congestion and parking pressure in central areas.

The lift sharing scheme is supported by a lift sharing parking scheme so that users can access parking spaces in prime locations.

The annual permit costs £130 per person. This gives access to free parking in many spaces as well as access to over 350 ‘car share only’ bays.

Guaranteeing a ride home

A guaranteed ride home is a supporting scheme that ensures lift sharing passengers can get home if their usual driver needs to change their routine. This may be a lift from a fellow employee, a paid taxi, or a bus or train fare. This is an important factor in the success of many closed lift sharing schemes as it provides reassurance for members.

This incentive works well for closed, employer-specific schemes or groups within a wider scheme but is impractical to manage for open schemes.

Involve the community

Lift sharing can allow residents who cannot drive to access vital services. Liftsharing schemes that are open to the community will benefit from additional promotion to maximise uptake.

The Future of Transport: Deliberative Research found that communicating the cost saving and environmental benefits of lift sharing may appeal to users. Avoiding the word ‘shared’, however, may be the most positive action that can be taken.

For schemes open to local businesses, authorities should engage with local employers to promote the benefits of lift sharing and engage with staff to encourage sign-up.

Address security concerns

Lifts, particularly in closed schemes, are often shared between people who know each other. For new and open schemes, users may have security concerns around sharing a lift with someone they do not know well.

An effective method of risk mitigation is to allow users to exchange messages in advance or arrange events where potential sharers can meet up before sharing. Alternatively, authorities may wish to focus on implementing schemes where there are repeat journeys with people who have connections with each other (for example commuting or school runs).

If a local authority is considering working with a commercial supplier, it may have resources to address security concerns and can work with potential users to overcome these.

Authorities setting up new schemes could require users to follow security advice, including:

• supporting initial meetings in open public spaces
• users showing each other valid ID, for example, a driving licence or passport

3. Monitor, report and gather data

Developing an understanding of target audience and their current travel patterns will help ensure a lift sharing scheme is tailored appropriately, resulting in a greater chance of long-term success. It will also provide valuable baseline data from which to monitor progress towards targets.

To justify the cost of administering a lift sharing scheme, performance will need to be monitored to see how many people are continuing to share.

Some information, such as membership numbers, may be available from the service provider to assist with monitoring usage and to help set and achieve targets.

The types of data that can help assess the effectiveness of a scheme could include public data, data gathered through travel surveys and data gathered through the monitoring of scheme users. Examples of this type of data include:

• historic car occupancy levels – this data is available as part of the national travel study and will help to identify how vehicle occupancy varies
• current car occupancy levels – data gathered through travel surveys conducted at different times of day
• data about the current carbon impact of commuting – Mobilityways has produced a calculator and map that can help identify these impacts on a local scale
• the number of registered journeys completed on a regular basis
• user surveys recording how users travel and whether their behaviour has changed during the past year
• occupancy counts at the car park entrance (number of people per car and the number of cars) to calculate an occupancy rate
• counts of authorised vehicles parked in dedicated bays
• data on the use of car park barriers and swipe cards if a parking area is set aside for sharers

Targets could include increasing scheme usage and increasing vehicle occupancy, but may also include measuring the decrease in emissions from commuting or business travel, changes in traffic levels or improvements in air quality.

4. Incorporate liftsharing in new developments

New developments should look to take advantage of the moment for change provided by moving house to promote sustainable and active travel options and encourage modal shift with residents.

This may include promoting lift sharing alongside other decarbonisation measures such as:

• incorporating mobility hubs
• creating a safe and secure walking environment
• cycle parking
• cycle lanes
• car club provision alongside setting up a lift sharing scheme

Through Section 106 agreements, authorities can secure funding for sustainable transport initiatives from developers. This can be used to set up and promote lift sharing as part of the provision of wider low carbon transport options to support new development and reduce the need for car parking.

Transport for London (TfL) suggests that authorities could implement parking standards for new developments, alongside requiring travel plans to be submitted as part of the planning process to identify modal split targets.