I drove the full length of the M3 a few weeks ago and noticed that for the entire journey I kept being close to the same cars, who were also going the length. So I started thinking what a shame it was that it took for example, 6 cars to carry 12 people up the motorway, when it could have taken 3 if we'd shared. Not a new concept I know, but bear with me...
So then I started thinking, what if there was a website that you could join that would help you to car share. You'd sign up as a member and record lots of info about yourself - whether you are a smoker, what kind of music you listen to when you travel, what your interests are, what you like to talk about etc. And lots of members sign up in this way. Maybe some would be green and would be interested in the environmental benefits, and some would simply be without a car and looking for a travelling solution.
Anyway, once signed up you would post when you are going on a journey - which direction, what time, how many spaces, return date etc. Then any other member could access the database and see whether they could join you on your journey and share your car. You know the kind of thing - but it could be more than this...
You could look for users that shared common interests, or music taste etc. Then at the end of the journey you could rate your car buddy... how easy was the meet up, were they good company, what was their driving like etc. Then you end up with a star rating to help other users identify whether you are a good car buddy.
Then what if, you could record the miles you had achieved car sharing, and could be rewarded for your green miles, perhaps through sponsorship from ethical companies.
So as you can see, I got quite carried away with my daydream and when I got back, I looked to see if any such thing existed and it does seem to. I don't know how successful they are, or how successful my idea could be, especially when you consider how fearful we have all become as a society about the dangers of strangers. But what if...
