With so little public transport in our area, we are reliant on our cars to get around. So many of us must make the same journeys every day. We could really reduce our carbon emissions, save money and ease congestion if we shared some of these everyday journeys with our neighbours. Our trip to the shops could become a social outing and not just a chore.
SITU would love to run a pilot lift share scheme which would help neighbours to share these regular trips. We have tested some of the apps on the market, but there is either a huge upfront cost to joining, or a payment from each journey to the app provider. The apps seem to be tailored to large urban communities and we found it difficult to get them to recognise some of the remoter locations in the Ullswater area.
We don’t want to be defeated, though. In the long term, it may be worth investing in one of these apps, but in the meantime, we want to run a lift share what’s app group – a very informal arrangement amongst neighbours. There would be few rules – just some basics. For example, you would need to check that your car insurance allows you to take part and and if you decide to ask for a contribution towards mileage, that can’t be more than the HMRC mileage rate, currently 45p per mile. The plan is to set up a group in Matterdale to begin with, but this could be replicated in other communities around Ullswater if it proves successful. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to get involved or have any ideas that will help to get this project going.
