Car share website targets business customers

With the government last week announcing it is looking to expand plans for car pool lanes, car sharing site Isanyonegoingto.com has revealed it is keen to offer a version of its social networking site that could be used internally by businesses to manage staff travel and promote car sharing.

Launched last April, the site now boasts 20,000 members who use it find fellow travellers willing to offer them a lift to their destination.

Founder Craig Slater said that the site is now the fastest growing car share site in the UK and with a target audience aged 18 to 25 he was expecting a spike in member numbers in the run up to Glastonbury and the summer's festivals.

The site is also attracting increased interest from businesses keen to use its social networking functionality to promote car sharing amongst employees, according to Slater.

"Oxfam use it on their intranet and we were recently approached by building services firm NG Bailey about developing a widget they could use on their internal site," he said. "It'll be relatively easy to replicate the site on internal corporate websites and we're happy to talk to firms about building internal applications."

Slater, who developed the idea for the site whilst working for a recruitment agency, added that there were compelling cost and environmental reasons for firms to ensure staff are sharing cars for corporate travel where possible.

"If I put four staff on a train from Manchester to London it can cost £900 return, but in a car it'll cost £90," he said. "Government figures also show that in terms of carbon emissions per person if you have three or more people in a car it is typically better than travelling by train."

He added that the site was likely to prove particularly attractive to large firms with satellite offices around the country that staff have to travel to on a regular basis.