Profit: Polly Arrowsmith saves £600 a year and reduces her carbon footprint by sharing lift to hard-to-reach events
The British summer is packed with cultural and sporting events, from music and literary festivals such as Glyndebourne and the Chalke Valley History Festival to the Henley Royal Regatta and Wimbledon. But the cost of getting to and from them can quickly add up.
That’s why a growing number are turning to elevator sharing. Event attendees use online platforms, social media or word of mouth to find fellow attendees who are on the same journey. They then offer a place in their car if they plan to drive, or they agree to be a passenger and pay a contribution towards the cost of fuel.
Sarah Whelehan, 30, regularly uses Liftshare to save money on summer events. She posts details of the trip she plans to take on the website or app, and other attendees message her if they want to join her.
Liftshare, which has 700,000 members in the UK and Ireland, is free to use and also proposes an appropriate price for passengers to pay the driver for a ride. Members planning to share a trip can message each other in advance to arrange a time and place convenient for both parties.
‘I use Liftshare when I go to concerts as it makes getting there much easier and cheaper,’ says Sarah, a Dublin school teacher. ‘This summer I’ll be using it for events at Dublin’s 3Arena and Malahide Castle. It also means I don’t have to worry about parking when I get there.”
Sarah also uses the platform to find people to share her 35-mile commute from Navan to Dublin.
‘Gasoline costs me about €70 (£60) a week, but thanks to their contributions I save €25 on that,’ she says. It’s also nice to meet other people. I’m not saying we’ve become lifelong friends, but it’s certainly made traveling more interesting.’
Liftshare says it has seen a surge in activity in recent weeks.
“Summer is always a busy time for us as more people go to festivals and events and are more open to sharing lifts in the lighter, warmer months,” says Amy Young, Liftshare community manager.
Its popularity has grown in the past year due to the rising cost of living. Last year, another 50,000 members were added, mainly because of rising petrol costs.
“People use the site for one-off trips or regular commutes, and we have members saving thousands of dollars a year this way,” adds Amy. The savings can add up quickly.
For example, a one-way trip from Bristol to Suffolk’s Latitude Festival this month would cost an estimated £71.40 in fuel costs.
Travel by train to Halesworth, the nearest station, costs £101. From there you have to pay £8 for a one-way shuttle bus to the festival. But a liftshare would cost a passenger £35.70, based on Liftshare’s proposed contribution. If four people shared the journey, the driver would save £53.60 and it would cost each passenger £17.90.
Opera enthusiasts traveling to Glyndebourne from London can expect £46.30 return on the tube and train to Lewes, East Sussex, plus £18 each for the taxi journey to and from the venue. The total cost of £82.30 compares to £34 in fuel costs if you were driving. With a four-person shared lift, you might pay just £13 as a suggested Liftshare contribution – a total saving of £69.30 over public transport and taxis. Sharing elevators with people you don’t know can feel daunting. Liftshare recommends letting friends and relatives know about your plans and only proceeding if you feel comfortable – even if a lift share has already been agreed.
It says that some members choose to show each other their ID, such as a passport or driver’s license, so they know they are traveling with the right person.
When you hitch a ride, you can check the car’s MOT and tax status by entering the registration number and car make on the government website vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk. Car sharing should not affect a driver’s insurance if you do not make a profit from the trip.
Go for a song: operagoers save £70 each at Glyndebourne
Polly Arrowsmith, 56, lives in Islington, North London, and often uses liftshares to festivals, training days and personal development retreats outside the capital.
“When I go to events, I contact the organizers in advance to see if they know of other people looking for lift shares, or I post a request on a related Facebook group or online forum,” says she. “And if I’m at an event, I’ll ask around who came by car to see if they’re interested in an elevator-share home. I always offer to pay my way and it also helps them with the driving costs.’
Polly, who works for online security firm CyberPal, recently arranged lifts to and from a book festival in Stroud in the Cotswolds this way.
She says sharing a lift has saved her more than £600 in travel costs over the year.
“It’s important to me to reduce my carbon footprint and this definitely helps,” she says. “It feels safe because the people I hitchhike share with are known to the organizers or part of the community, and of course I wouldn’t share with someone I didn’t feel comfortable with.”
Polly doesn’t have a car as parking costs alone would run into the hundreds of pounds. Liftshares allow her to go to events that are otherwise hard to get to.
She says, “I’m going to a retreat in Essex that’s impossible to get to on public transport, and there’s only one local taxi, which makes it very expensive and hard to book.”
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