Why will people only share cabs during a tube strike?

June 21, 2010 by 1 Comment

On Wednesday, there is some likelihood that there will be a tube strike on the London Undergound and Docklands Light Railway. When it happened last year, there were a number of taxi sharing initiatives set up by Transport for London (TfL) that were reported on. It really is a shame that taxi sharing (and car sharing) is not part of normal life here as it is in other countries as it is a great way to save money, meet new people and reduce your impact on the environment. Peter Jackson from the BBC considered this last year during the tube strike and his leading comment was:

“Londoners hit by a 48-hour Tube strike are being encouraged to taxi-share to keep the city moving. It’s an idea that makes sense on any day of the year – but can the notoriously reticent British really take it to heart?”

It is an unfortunate set of circumstances but pretty true. Typically, our customers save 30% of the shared component of their fare when they share, so there is an economic argument in favour of sharing, and in these tough financial times, that’s not a bad deal.

PS. If you do want a cab during the strike, I would book early online or via 0844 669 4444!

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The Launch of Tesco Carbon Voyage

June 16, 2010 by 1 Comment

We are launching a ride sharing service called Tesco Carbon Voyage this week in partnership with Tesco and the University of Manchester’s Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI). The service will be operating as a twelve week trial at three of Tesco’s big stores in North West London; if it proves successful, it may be extended. To visit the site, click here. The service will be offered to Tesco Clubcard holders in three Tesco Extra stores in North West London.

This is a really important activity; 84% of all passenger car trips in the United Kingdom only have one occupant according to DfT figures, so any opportunity to increase vehicle occupancy can have a impact on reducing carbon emissions, congestion as well as cost. The service we provide will be great in being able to get a baseline of the impact of customer travel to and from these stores and then identify potential financial and environmental savings.

What we are trying to do here is firstly understand travel patterns to and from supermarkets and then provide Tesco customers with a safe and convenient way to share their trips to and from their stores. The customers of the service will be able to book via phone, text or online. We will capture all the financial and environmental data so customers can find out how much they are saving through the ride-sharing scheme.

At the end of the trial, the SCI will also interview several hundred participants to get a detailed understanding of their views to such a service – what is a good enough incentive to get people to share, what barriers are there and so on. Something that is unique here is that not only are people being surveyed about their travel patterns, but we have the opportunity to see what they actually do. The SCI has also written a short information piece on this trial here.

As a start up, this is a tremendous opportunity to deploy a service on a very large scale and demonstrate the value of what we have to offer, and we’re really pleased to have been selected by these organisations to help them deliver this service.

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Travelling to Festivals

June 14, 2010 by Leave a comment

According to a BBC article, travelling to and from events is the most environmentally harmful aspect of festivals. This was based on a report by Julie’s Bicycle, which is a not for profit organisation that was set up a while back to help the industry clean up its act. I’ve really only been to one big concert in the UK and by far – the worst bit was the nightmare of trying to leave at the end because everyone was getting in their own taxis – of course many of these people would have been going to exactly the same train station (the only one in a twenty mile radius of where the concert was at).

An oft cited statistic from me recently is from the DfT‘s recent report on traffic statistics for 2009. In it, it highlights that 84% of all passenger car traffic in the UK involves only a single occupant. This is a pretty crazy statistic – and I guess partly why there is so much traffic congestion. There is plently of empirical evidence to demonstrate the financial and environmental savings that can be achieved through improving the utility of transport vehicles. We’re about to start an activity with a very large retailer and a university to understand what incentives are enough to get people to share and what the real and perceived barriers are. While this is initially based around minicabs (as they are part of a regulated scheme), the same principles could apply to any form of sharing.

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