A car sharing database costs little to set up and is a practical way to reduce car use while still providing a certain degree of flexibility and independence. Car sharing can halve the fuel used to get one employee to work and reduce costs accordingly. It provides an opportunity for colleagues to talk and creates a more relaxed, less stressful journey. Setting up the scheme encourages a more productive dialogue between employees and employers.

Encourage staff to participate in a car sharing scheme by providing a car sharing database to match staff work routes, and journey times as well as starting points. You can purchase commercially available databases and once all potential car sharers are registered, administration is not time consuming.

To enable staff to have confidence in the scheme it is necessary to guarantee an emergency ride home in case of unforeseen circumstances. The scheme can also provide a back up for those using public transport, for instance when working late. A guaranteed ride home, for example in a taxi, will boost confidence and therefore participation in the car sharing scheme, or use of public transport.

Provide preferential or dedicated parking facilities for those that car share, making the spaces closer to the workplace, easy to access and cheaper, or even free to use. You could try and accommodate employee's fears of being forced to share with an unpopular colleague (it's bound to happen) by setting-up car sharing 'coffee clubs' during work hours to encourage potential car sharers to meet.

Consider the provision of special benefits to those that participate in the car sharing scheme, such as tokens or vouchers on signing up, or maybe an extended lunch break once a week. You can afford to be generous, since the car sharers are reducing fuel costs considerably.