Linking Health & Travel | Walking and Cycling | Public Transport Information | UK and International Transport Links
13 MAY 2008
Quotes
1. Tony who works at Essex University has been car sharing since September 1975. Initially he started car sharing due to a fuel crisis which meant fuel was rationed, since then it has become a normal part of travelling to work and he has shared and provided lifts to anywhere from 1 to 3 fellow car sharers in the subsequent 30 years. Tony travels from Dovercourt and finds car sharing convenient and much cheaper on the pocket. Tony said ‘ Car sharing makes financial sense, it is convenient and less hassle for the university in not having to accommodate so many cars.' He says that ‘the most important factor in determining whether a car share is going to work out is that the people involved have to be reliable, saying that in 30 years we only had one person that proved unreliable, I have made many enduring friendships with fellow car sharers and have recently attended the wedding of one of them!! '.
2.Carole and Maggie work for Colchester Borough Council at Lexden Grange, and both live in Tiptree. They tried car sharing last year for a week after volunteering to be travel pioneers. Carole reported that she enjoyed having the company especially when driving in blizzard conditions and Maggie benefited from being able to have a drink with the team after work as it was Carole's turn to drive. Both said the only down side was the limit on their freedom for doing activities after work or meeting up with friends at lunchtime. However since their experiment they have continued to car share when it is convenient for both of them and have since become firm friends and socialise together outside of work.
Carole said ‘I would never have got to know Maggie so well if we hadn't tried car sharing together and we plan to car share more once we relocate to Angel Court in the summer'
3.Selina works at Premier House for Essex Rivers and drives in from Dedham each day with her husband. They drive to the Hythe first each morning where her husband works and then Selina takes the car on to Premier House. Their working hours are roughly the same, but Selina will wait for her husband sometimes if he has to work later. They have two cars but Selina explains that ‘It does not make sense financially to bring two cars into Colchester each day, by sharing we save money and also get to spend some quality time together on a regular basis'.
