Because of the three Fs:
Frugality: save money
Fun: meet positive, creative, exciting people
Footprint: reduce your eco footprint
Frugality
You can save a lot of money by sharing rides. Let’s say you’re driving down from Melbourne to Arthur’s Seat to go bushwalking. That’s a 166km journey there and back. If you’re driving the typical vehicle (12L/100km) and petrol costs $1.41 (it’s probably more by now!), that trip will cost you $28. If you do a trip like that 20 times per year, you’ll be up for $560 (not including maintenance costs and depreciation).
Now let’s suppose other people on CocoRide might also share your passion for bushwalking. Let’s say you find someone to share the ride with 50% of the time. Each time someone shares a ride with you, they’ll pay half the petrol costs ($14 a pop). Over the course of the year, you’ll earn back $140. It’s only a small amount of money, but small amounts add up! If you chose to share a ride more often, you could save a lot more money.
Fun
Let’s revisit that example of driving down to Arthur’s seat. That’s a 1hr 20 minute drive – plenty of time to have a conversation. Given that you’re sharing a ride to the same place, you probably have a lot in common. There’s a good chance you’ll end up friends by the end. Not everyone enjoys meeting new people, in fact you might hate it! But if making friends is something you enjoy, ridesharing is an excellent way to meet new people
Footprint
Australians have the second highest carbon footprint per capita in the world. Guess what makes up a fair chunk of that footprint? Car travel. By sharing a ride with someone else, you are reducing your overall carbon footprint. The emissions are shared between the two of you instead of being yours alone. In effect, you are helping take cars off the road.
“If only 10 per cent of the cars with solo drivers carried a passenger, the emissions reduction would be equivalent to a twofold growth in public transport patronage.” Adjunct Professor John Stanley from Sydney University’s Sustainable Land Transport division quoted in Drive Editorial.