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Promoting car sharing

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This toolkit is designed to help you to promote car sharing and encourage your staff to either register at www.carsharedevon.com, join your company car sharing scheme or set up informal car sharing arrangements.  

Why encourage car sharing?

Car sharing is a simple but effective way to help your business reduce demand for parking spaces, as well as increasing staff wellbeing. It’s a good option for staff living in rural areas with limited access to public transport, or essential car users who want to save money on the cost of fuel. It can be used by both drivers and non-drivers.  

Benefits of car sharing for your staff

  • Cost Savings: the average car sharer can save in excess of £900 per year on fuel and parking costs 
  • Increased Options: it increases travel options for those with no, or limited, car access – particularly for those in rural areas 
  • Sociable: it’s sociable, a way to make new friends and meet colleagues 

Promoting car sharing to your staff

There is a wide range of ways you can promote car sharing to staff: 

Advertising 

  • Put a car share scheme notice board up in reception
  • Display posters around the office and in meeting rooms 
  • Include information in staff induction packs 
  • Include a message from your Chief Executive on pay slips 
  • Hold a promotion, for example along side National Liftshare Week which usually runs during October. Please check the Liftshare website for further details.  
  • Promote car sharing within internal staff newsletters or during staff meetings 
  • Use current events as opportunities e.g. Rising fuel costs, Devon County Council’s Climate Emergency, or an office move 

Using IT resources 

  • Put a link to www.carsharedevon.com on your company intranet – this can act as a reminder for staff to sign up 
  • Add a car share related message and/or a link to www.carsharedevon.com to your automated email signature 
  • Put a temporary notice on your corporate screen saver

Organising events 

  • Host a car share breakfast or coffee morning – have a computer set up so staff can sign up to car sharing on the spot or hand out leaflets with a sign up link so people can register afterwards. Offer free coffee or cake as an incentive for staff to attend. For organisations with large numbers of staff, you could host different sessions for different commuting routes e.g. people using the M5, A38, A30 etc.   
  • If you are starting a new car sharing scheme, arrange a launch event with display boards in an area with good footfall such as a canteen. Have a computer at the launch so staff can register on the spot and offer a small gift to people who sign up 
  • Get staff who already car share to explain the benefits 
  • Take part in and promote national campaigns e.g. National Liftshare week (2nd week of October)

Other promotional ideas

Some ideas for promoting car sharing have been listed below: 

  • Use the idea of implementing car sharing as part of a New Year’s Resolution to reduce someone’s carbon footprint 
  • If you have some budget left towards your travel plan for the year, you can use it to develop some resources to promote your car sharing scheme, or get a car share scheme set up if you don’t already have one 
  • Research indicates that people are more motivated to change by what they are losing as opposed to what they may save. Email staff about what they could be losing by driving to work alone e.g. not having to drive every morning 
  • Email signatures – an effortless way to spread the word. Why not add: ‘Save money and make new friends! Join Devon’s car share scheme www.carsharedevon.com’ to your email signature and encourage others to do the same 
  • Use the change of clocks to promote car sharing. Emphasise that travelling with someone else can be safer if you brake down in the dark or in poor weather 

Further information and support

Want to encourage smarter travel to work at your workplace? Devon County Council can offer support* to organisations who want to enable their staff to travel more sustainably and actively. Please get in touch via traveldevon@devon.gov.uk for more information.

*Support offered will depend on availability of funding and engagement and commitment of your workplace.

 

 

This page was last updated February 2023.

URLs

 

 

traveldevon@devon.gov.uk