WATCH: "Tinder for cars" launches in Jersey

Thursday 09 January 2020

A local woman on a mission to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads has launched a carpooling app, described as "Tinder for cars" in Jersey.

The local version of UK-based app 'Liftshare' went live over the weekend, aiming to connect drivers and passengers travelling the same way.

Hilly Bouteloup told Express she stumbled across ‘Liftshare’ after going to a local action group meeting focussing on reducing Jersey’s carbon footprint.

Pictured: Hilly Bouteloup has taken the lead in launching Liftshare in Jersey.

Having never done any activism or campaigning in the past, Hilly was inspired to find a solution to Jersey’s traffic pollution at the meeting. Shortly after, she found the  carpooling site, which also comes as a free downloadable app.

“They were just looking to see - like all parishes are - how to reduce the carbon, and one of the things that sprung to mind straight away is the traffic. Let’s try and get some cars off the road.” 

Pictured: The app connects car poolers with each other.

It comes on the heels of the government publishing its ‘Carbon Neutral Strategy’ after States Members voted in favour of the island becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

According to the strategy report, more than half of Jersey’s emissions (51%) comes from transport, closely followed by space heating businesses (22%) and residences (15%). 

Pictured: Jersey's main polluter is transport, the Government's Carbon Neutral Strategy showed.

Hilly explained that users can sign up to the service through the app and log their journeys from A to B, before getting matched up with others heading in the same direction. The car poolers can then arrange the trip between them.

“Tinder for cars!” Hilly joked. 

She added that the app is still in its early days, with the focus currently on establishing the level of local interest.

“At the moment, we’re just hovering on it and seeing if we can get people interested and sharing their cars.” 

She continued: “The main thing is, it is legal – it’s not Jersey Lifts. As long as you don’t charge more than 60p per mile for the whole vehicle, shared between all your passengers, you stay within the law.

“And all the insurance companies who are members of the Insurance Association are behind this.”

Beyond offering a way of helping the environment, Hilly said there was also a practical benefit:  helping to ease peak-time traffic.

“The climate thing is very trendy at the moment and I think it makes a lot of people shudder – older people especially – but if you commute from the West, you’re sitting in a traffic jam from La Haule going along at two miles an hour. So, something’s got to be done.

“Even if you’re not a big environmentalist, it must be better to get some cars off the road!”