One million reasons to consider car sharing this Spring

Transport Minister, Conor Murphy has welcomed over £1million savings made as a result of car sharing journeys throughout the north in a year.

The Minister welcomed statistics from Travelwise Car Share which showed that in 2009, registered users pooled over £1,021,000 in savings as a result of car sharing journeys made by members throughout the year.

Research also showed that those matched journeys registered on the site will have saved approximately 4,725,120 miles which would otherwise have been clocked up by drivers and, in the process, removed 1,554.6 tonnes of associated carbon dioxide emissions.

The Minister said: "In the current economic climate and with increased fuel prices, there has never been a better time for car travellers to experience the benefits of sharing their journeys.

"While delivering significant individual cost savings to users, the site is also making a contribution to reducing overall congestion and addressing pollution associated with car travel. To more and more people, it is clear that car sharing makes sense and in the current climate, with fuel prices continuing to rise, the potential savings are hard to ignore, averaging about £1,000 per year for two people sharing.

"I would encourage everyone who currently drives regular journeys to check out the online calculator on the carshareni.com website to find out how much they could save,'' said Mr Murphy.

With a growing membership of almost 3,300 registered users and 56% matched journeys, the free-to-use car sharing website matches commuters and other travellers who make similar daily journeys, as well as one-off journeys. While delivering significant individual cost savings to users, the site is also making a contribution to reducing overall congestion and addressing pollution associated with car travel.

Travelwise Car Share co-ordinator, Michael Lindsay, said: "These are welcome statistics and prove the value of car sharing both to individuals and society as a whole. While we expect that there are many more people making their own arrangements to car share, the website allows us to track the positive impacts of those registered to use the service."

Travelwise first launched the car share scheme in the north in 2005 and last year added a specific site for the northwest to facilitate local and cross border car-sharing, Car Share North West website .

Notes to editors:

1. Travelwise is an agency within the Department for Regional Development and is dedicated to promoting the use of sustainable modes of transport such as car sharing, walking, cycling and public transport to audiences including employers, commuters and schools throughout the North. Details at the Travelwise website

2. Below are the calculated savings based on Carshareni.com 2009 registered users and matched journeys

• Distance: 4,725120 miles
• Money: £1,021925.00
• Carbon Dioxide: 1554.6 tonnes
• Nitrogen Oxide: 2.2 tonnes
• Particulate matter: 147.9 kilograms
• Carbon monoxide: 1.8 tonnes
• Hydrocarbons: 110.3 kilograms

Car Share North West website