Discover the benefits of sharing your commute

We’ve hopefully all seen the successful Peter Kay comedy about car sharing, a boss forced to awkwardly share his travelling space with a co-worker. While, for many of us, the drive to work is about singing loudly to Queen and drying our hair using the car blowers, it’s also worth considering sharing your journey to work, if for nothing more than to find a harmonious singing partner.

Car sharing on your commute has many positive benefits. Yes, there is the chance that one of your co-workers will possibly see you at your worst, that you will have to share your space with someone during your sacred journey into work, but there are many positives that need to be considered.

Reduce fuel costs and parking fees

Would you like to buy a house on the island of Bali? Apparently, the amount of money spent driving to work over the course of a career could buy you one! Think about it, have you ever calculated how much it costs for you to drive to work? When you add it all up; fuel, insurance, wear and tear, parking, it is quite sobering. Sharing your journey to work with a co-worker means that you could potentially halve the cost of your commute. What could you do with that extra money? You could use it to spend quality time with family and friends, pay for experiences that you would never normally afford, or save it all up and buy yourself a house on a tropical island.

The average fuel cost of driving a reasonably economical car (diesel running at 55mpg) is 10p per mile, so a 15-mile commute in each direction works out at £3.00 per day, £15 per week, or roughly £60 per month. Sharing that journey could lead to a saving of £30 a month or £360 a year, not to be sniffed at. By sharing your journey means you could apply for a central Milton Keynes car share parking permit, saving on the cost of parking and have access to 350 car park spaces reserved for those who are car sharing.

Some company on your commute

Having a passenger with you means that you have someone to talk to on your way to and from work. Think about the benefits of being able to talk about your day with someone who works with you and who understands how your organisation works. Instead of offloading on to children and partners, you can share your experiences with someone else in your company.

Additionally, from a personal safety perspective, having someone else in your car with you means that you may be less likely to be attacked in your car or on your way to it.

Improve your health and wellbeing

Several studies have shown that driving in rush hour traffic can have a negative impact on your health. The stress of driving a commute can also be a bad start to anyone’s working day.

By sharing the commute with someone else, you can potentially reduce your stress and improve your health.

Learn about other areas of your company

Have you ever wondered what the other departments in your company do or wondered why no-one else understands what you do? Carsharing provides you with the opportunity to interact with colleagues from different areas of the business.

Learning about the work that goes on in different departments creates an improved sense of team spirit and some studies have shown can improve work performance.

Reduce Congestion

It stands to reason, the more people who share their commute, the fewer cars there will be on the roads. Logically, this would mean that there would be less congestion and, therefore, less stress for those opting to drive, or maybe an extra 5 minutes in bed.

Improve Air Quality

It is estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 people in the UK die prematurely because of poor air quality. That’s around 137 people a day! To put that into perspective, that’s roughly 4 times more than UK deaths from breast cancer. By reducing the number of cars on the road, we can hopefully play our part in reducing this number.

Car sharing tips

So, you’ve made the jump and found yourself a carshare buddy! Congratulations! Here are a few tips to ensure that your journey to work is as enjoyable and peaceful as possible.

Always confirm the time, date and price of your car share journey before the actual journey takes place
Swap your contact details with your car share
If you are the car sharing driver, check with your insurance company that you are covered to carry passengers to work
Don’t smoke or eat in somebody else’s car without asking their permission first
Don’t be late: if you’re car sharing it’s important to be on time, it’s not just you that will be late, it could be up to 4 other people
Keep an open mind: some people like to chat, some prefer to commute quietly (be prepared to make small talk or alternatively to listen to the radio)