Bespoke services for personal travel

1
Bespoke services for personal travel the case
of lift sharing

• Presenter Mark Beecroft
• Transportation Research Group
• University of Southampton

2
Defining lift sharing

• Lift sharing a travel choice whereby
  individuals combine to share private vehicles for
  specific journeys
• Range of approaches
• Informal sharing in households
• Employer schemes
• Specialist service provides

3
The mobility context
4
Why lift share?

• Benefits
• Congestion/efficiency
• Social inclusion
• Issues
• Reduced independence flexibility
• Makes a positive contribution
• to sustainable mobility
• Lack of detailed analysis of impacts

5
State of current knowledge

• DfT 2004 Smarter Choices report
• Attitudinal behavioural measures can
• contribute to more sustainable travel
• Guidance promotes benefits and links
• to travel plans for education and work related
  travel.
• Knowledge of benefits/impacts of lift sharing ltd
  
• Detailed analysis essential to assess potential
  role in future mobility
• Partnership with leading UK service provider
• Liftshare.com

6
Research questions

• Who uses/doesnt use lift sharing?
• What are typical journey characteristics?
• How did people start lift sharing?
• Database
• Liftshare data used 2006 new subscribers c37,000

7
Who uses/doesnt use lift sharing?
8
What are typical journey characteristics?
Journey purpose
Journey type
Journey frequency
9
How did people start lift sharing?
How heard about liftshare scheme
New Liftshare membership in London, July 2005
10
Attitudes to lift sharing

• Focus group findings
• Hampshire CC employees in Winchester
  Basingstoke
• Much informal sharing need incentives to
  formally register
• Parking provision most attractive incentive
• There are significant social interaction benefits
  from lift sharing which have been given limited
  attention.
• People often start lift sharing because of a
  trigger event (moving home or job) that leads
  them to reconsider their travel behaviour.

11
Conclusions

• Lift sharing could have a significant role in
  future mobility
• More pragmatic travel
• choices in challenging
• economic climate
• Role for (planning)
• policy to support
• lift sharing
• Move from niche to
• mainstream?