Hop on aboard to save money

FOOD costs never seem to stop increasing and utility bills are rising, but there is one way of reducing your cost of living and that is by car pooling.
The Gippy Ride Share program continues to link South Gippslanders and others throughout Gippsland to car pool, either to work, place of study or wherever.
There is the potential for participants to save $20 to $50 a week.
South Gippsland Shire Council hosts the program on behalf of all Gippsland councils, and while the project is still technically a trial, it may become self sufficient once the trial ends in June.
The internet based program invites people to register their journey online in a bid to arrange matches with people undertaking similar journeys.
People then meet in a public place and make their own arrangements.
The site has more than 490 registered users from across Gippsland, is attracting two new members each week and more than 300 separate journeys have been registered.
More than 100,000km in driving has been saved so far.
More than 3900 people have visited the site, with 12 per cent of those becoming members, council’s community strengthening manager Ned Dennis told council last Wednesday.
“We just need a higher percentage of the population to log on to make it viable in its own right,” he said.
South Gippsland Shire Council has been the lead agency for the program, which started in June 2012 and is funded by the Department of Planning and Community Development as part of the State Government’s Regional Transport Innovations program.
Council staff monitor the website and respond to public enquiries.
The two year trial cost $172,800 and may not continue beyond the end of June.
“We have applied for grants funding from organisations interested in taking cars off the road but there is no news as yet,” Mr Dennis said.
To register your travel journey details as a driver, rider or both, visit the website: www.gippyrideshare.com.au

Jump in: South Gippsland Shire Council’s community strengthening manager Ned Dennis and community strengthening support officer Sophie Dixon are urging the public to support the Gippy Ride Share carpooling website.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Feb 25 2014. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry