A New Way to Ride

The University of St Andrews’ private community on the Liftshare app connects students and staff with other commuters for shared car trips. Liftshare, the United Kingdom’s and Ireland’s largest lift-sharing network, pairs passengers and drivers with similar schedules via a free to use app. Now students and staff at the University of St Andrews can connect with other commuters for shared car trips with a private community on the app. The app is a product of Mobilityways, a climate tech company, with the goal of reducing the cost of travel and carbon emissions.

The Mobilityways website cites their social mission that, “Liftshare was founded with the desire to make car-sharing as normal as recycling”’. Founder and Chairman Ali Clabburn wanted to fill the empty seats travelling on our roads every day, “Since its formation 25 years ago, Liftshare has so far enabled over 1.2 million members to share their journeys. It remains a part of our proposition so members of the public can continue car-sharing for free”’.

To register, members download the app onto their phones or laptops. Then, by joining the University of St Andrews Staff & Student Car Share Community, users filter journeys for commuters at the University. From there, the app lets members input their journey, whether a regular or a single trip, to discover similarities with others. After finding matches, users may message others to request a joint trip. Liftshare displays a suggested contribution, and then the users arrange payment for the trip. Once the members arrange details, they begin their travel together.

Liftshare Community Manager, Amy Young, shared the benefits of the app with The Saint. She explained, “The top three reasons that Liftshare members consistently give for using the service are: saving money, making friends/having companionship on a journey, and the environmental benefits”.

As an app that pairs commuters, members save money on fuel costs or by avoiding an alternative, more expensive form of travel. Young expanded, “On average, Liftshare members save £1034 each per year, which increases when sharing with more people per car”.

The Liftshare Savings Calculator on their website considers cost benefits with the savings per trip, day, and year based on the journey and number of people sharing the car. Beyond monetary benefits, Young stated that the added element of companionship also impacts members of the St Andrews community.

Brian Murphy, Liftshare member and chef manager at John Burnet Hall, said, “I joined Liftshare as I wanted to try and help people come to town and to help with fuel costs”.

Despite discussing the difficulties in finding someone with a similarly erratic schedule, Murphy says, “I regularly collect a member of my team on my way to work, and sometimes, when the shift patterns align, I drop him off on my way home”.

Matthew Dorrat, a third year at the University, said, “I drive into uni three days a week. It is nice to share with another person, as I've enjoyed having conversations while also reducing carbon emissions”.

Liftshare includes various precautionary features so that users can continue to build connections with others while staying safe. For more information on building these connections safely, the Liftshare website includes a guide for car sharing.

“Liftshare is designed to be as safe as possible. For example, no personal or identifying details are given out until members are confirmed as sharing. Only first name and first part of postcode is displayed to other users who match with your journey”, Young said.

“When sharing with someone you don’t know, we advise members to meet up in a public place first (perhaps for a coffee). This gives you a chance to get to know each other and confirm details if you will be sharing. You are never obliged to share if, at any point, you feel unsure or unsafe doing so”, Young continued.

Perhaps one of the most important benefits identified by Young is the positive environmental effect of Liftshare as sharing trips reduces carbon emissions.

“The University of St Andrews staff and students’ Liftshare community has already saved its members £147,228, taken 567,725 miles off the road, and cut CO2 emissions by 125.18 tonnes”, Young explained. A carbon emissions forecast for the next 12 months expects a further 29 tonnes reduction.

Dorratt commented, “When joining, I was shocked to learn the percentage of empty seats on average UK commuter journeys. As a student studying sustainable development, I'm really pleased that the University is promoting Liftshare".

With these benefits, Liftshare brings a new method to aid the environment and commuters within the St Andrews community. As the Founder and Chairman of Mobilityways, Ali Clabburn, said, “The Mobilityways Platform combines our two decades of knowledge and experience in improving the commute. It is the complete solution to understand, measure and change the impact from your commuters”.

Image Provided by Liftshare