First Car-Share Lane To Be Built In The UK
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 03.24.06
The concept of car sharing is becoming more and more popular, We have previously featured several companies on TreeHugger such as Flex-Car in the US, GoGet in Australia, Streetcar in London and we recently came across another company operating across the UK called City Car Club. However the concept of car sharing is not only related to these car pick-up schemes, but also the old-fashioned idea of the car-pool where people share the cars they already own. This used to usually be a neighbourly thing, but with the help of the Internet new widespread communities are being created. National Carshare is one such network in the UK where you can register to share your commute to work. Even the UK government has taken note of the car-sharing trend and has given the go ahead for a separate car-share lane to be opened on a motorway in West Yorkshire.
The BBC reports that car-share lanes have so far been used successfully in the US, Canada and Australia. The lane will allow cars carrying more than one person priority entry onto the motorway. This idea increases the positive impact of car-sharing by decreasing congestion, therefore encouraging more people to catch lifts with friends or colleagues. ‘The one-mile (1.6km) lane will open in 2007 at the junction of the M606 and M62 in West Yorkshire.’ This junction is renowned for rush-hour traffic jams and amazingly studies have shown that ‘at peak times 84% of vehicles using the motorway at this point have only one occupant.’ The prediction is that the lane will cut rush hour journey times by 8 minutes which to us doesn’t sound a very significant amount, especially since the lane will cost £2.5 million! However, we hope that car-sharing lanes prove effective in the UK and that they will eventually help to reduce the number of cars on our busy roads. Thanks to tippster Guy via: BBC news.
"However the concept of car sharing is not only related to these car pick-up schemes, but also the old-fashioned idea of the car-pool where people share the cars they already own."
No, it's just an unfortunate coincidence of terminology. Brits have called ridesharing "carsharing" for a long time.