Ten years back, then-Conservative Cabinet member Cllr Hunter Henderson revealed at the Full council meeting on 19 March 2008 that Isle of Wight council were in the process of signing up to what was then a revolutionary idea – a Car Sharing scheme for the Island. From our live coverage we noted,
“Cllr HH – in the process of joining the liftshare.org scheme. Island would have a dedicated page.”
This morning (Thursday) a press release arrived from the council announcing … the Isle of Wight council was launching a Lift sharing scheme for the Isle of Wight (full text of the press release below).
It’s a good idea
There’s no denying that it has the potential to be a good idea – anything that might reduce emissions must be good, right?
Lessons
To this shows the value of:
- People who have consistently reported on news in the same area still being involved with it.
Many local news publications are now staffed with junior reporters as they are cheaper than the experienced journos who have been pensioned off – the knowledge and experience of those journos went out of the door with them.
- Taking snapshots of (council) Websites – as OnTheWight did in conjunction with @WightGeek back in 2013 – have a definite value.
If you search the current Isle of Wight council Website for details of Carshare Wight, as the decade-old project became labelled, you’ll find not a jot – almost as if it didn’t ever exist.
Happily the historic snapshot informs us all.
Questions
We’ve asked how this differs from the Liftshare program initiated ten years ago by Conservative Cabinet member Cllr Hunter Henderson – and what are all of the costs associated with signing up to this scheme this time. We’ll update when we hear back.
The council’s release
Here’s the Council’s release from this morning, in their words:
ISLAND CAR SHARE COMMUNITY GOES LIVE
The Isle of Wight Liftshare community has launched on the Island.
The tailored scheme, set up for businesses and residents, aims to improve accessibility to employment and other services, reduce travel costs and minimise local congestion.
“I am really happy to support this programme launching on the Island as taking part in car sharing is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and global gas emissions. I would encourage individuals and businesses here to join up and experience the benefits themselves,” said Councillor Ian Ward, Cabinet member for infrastructure and public transport.
It is completely free to sign up to the car share scheme. You can then match your journey with others using it.
The programme is a great opportunity for businesses to benefit from addressing key issues as associated with car parking and congestion while also contributing to corporate social responsibility targets.
Isle of the Wight NHS Trust Deputy Chief Executive, Frank Sims said: “We know how congested our roads can get, and many drivers take the same journeys so it makes a lot of sense to bring people together to share journeys and help to reduce the number of vehicles on the Island’s roads.”
Individuals signing up to the scheme can expect to save money by sharing travel costs, as well as contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions and congestion on local roads.
The car share community is managed by transport consultancy SYSTRA, in partnership with the council, which is delivering the project as part of the Access Fund for Sustainable Travel – a £1.3 million three year sustainable transport programme which was secured competitively from the Department for Transport (DfT).
The aim of the DfT’s Access Fund for Sustainable Travel is to support the local economy by supporting access to new and existing employment, education and training; and actively promote increased levels of physical activity through walking and cycling.
Image: pixishared under CC BY 2.0
