London Gatwick Airport has launched an innovative carpooling service that offers its staff preferential parking spaces and tracks their associated reduction in vehicle miles and emissions in real time.
In partnership with journey sharing platform Faxi, the service collects data from each shared journey via a smartphone app and uses it to incentivize drivers with access to preferential parking bays in their existing parking lot.
Over time, those drivers who regularly transport the most passengers to and from work will be given the opportunity to upgrade to a staff parking lot of their choice; these are located up to one mile closer to the terminal buildings, so the scheme could reduce commuting time by up to 40 minutes each day.
The Faxi app provides drivers with up-to-date information, showing other staff who are on the same route and potential diversions from their normal route – depicted in minutes – for pick-up. This enables drivers to fill their vehicle with passengers and minimize their environmental impact, and gives them the best chance of being upgraded to their choice of parking lot.
According to research, only around 10% of people in UK regularly share their journeys with another traveler, while the average UK worker will spend 400 days of their life commuting. However, research also suggests that nearly half of all people in the UK would share a journey with someone they know.
Gary Wallace, head of car parking at Gatwick Airport, said, “I am pleased to announce Gatwick is partnering with Faxi as the airport continues to expand its portfolio of sustainable travel and parking schemes for both passengers and staff at the airport.
“Faxi allows our staff to not only save money and share travel costs but also reduce their car emissions and traffic on local roads at the same time, which once again demonstrates Gatwick’s commitment to being the UK’s most environmentally friendly airport.”
Tony Lynch, CEO and founder of Faxi, commented, “It’s fantastic to be operating incentivized carpooling at the massive Gatwick Airport campus. Our technology, combined with Gatwick’s commitment to carpooling, could result in the world’s largest verified carpool network saving millions of driven miles.”
