The UK’s largest car share provider, the Liftshare Group, is calling for employers to recognise the benefits of the sharing economy amid the growing fuel crisis.
Three of the UK’s biggest fuel providers have warned of shortages at some sites as a severe lack of lorry drivers and panic buying disrupts supplies. Petrol stations across the country are seeing pumps run dry, causing some employers to voice concerns about whether their teams will be able to make it to work on Monday.
“A fuel supply shortage, rising traffic levels and Covid concerns around using public transport are a perfect storm which highlights the need for us to rethink how we travel.” Says Ali Clabburn, CEO and founder of the Liftshare Group, the UK’s largest car sharing platform.
“Current commuting habits are not sustainable. These shortages highlight the need for change, with 47 million empty seats on our roads every rush hour. Car sharing is the easiest ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change, affording sharers the opportunity to reduce travel costs, minimise congestion and improve air quality in their local community.”
The easing of lockdown restrictions has seen many employers call their workforce back into the office, with traffic rising above pre-pandemic levels in some major cities. Commuters continue to eschew public transport in favour of driving, with used car sales up in response.
Single occupancy vehicles are one of the UK’s biggest emissions offenders, with the transport the UK’s biggest polluter. The commute is one of the least efficient journeys we ever make with commuting emissions accounting for 5% of the UK’s total emissions – 18 billion kg of CO2e annually.
Liftshare are calling for employers to empower their teams to Commute Back Better by inviting them to share their journey with a colleague. This is ahead of Liftshare Week (4th-10th October), the UK-wide event which aims to encourage and enable more people to discover the benefits of car-sharing.
