Press Releases

More Women Share Cars Than Men

08.03.2012

In honour of International Women’s Day on Thursday 8th March, carpooling.com explores the consumer dynamics of its female users and reveals that 53% of its user base are women.* CEO of Europe’s largest ridesharing service, Markus Barnikel, explains.

“More women use our carsharing platform than men which many people find surprising,” says Barnikel. “People tend to think that women are more sensitive to security concerns and that they are less likely to consider carsharing. As our figures show, however, this doesn’t hold to be true. Women are actually more open to sharing in their daily lives.”

One carpooling.com user, Joanna Pepper, gives her opinion: “I drive home from the city every weekend and always try to take passengers with me. Initially, I started to offer carpools to save money on petrol but over time it became more of a social thing for me. You meet such diverse people from all walks of life so you often have some fascinating conversations.”

“People always ask me; ‘How do you get into a car with a complete stranger?,” says Florie Dupuy, a French user from Lyon. “The fact is that you don’t get into a car with a complete stranger. After looking at their profile and talking on the phone, you start to get a feeling for the person before you even meet them.”

Carpooling.com offers the option of female-only trips, ID authentication, a user rating system and Facebook Connect – features which further increase levels of trust and accountability. People can choose who they want to ride with, how much space and comfort they need, where they want to meet and what they are willing to pay. With location-based technology and carpooling mobile apps, carpooling can now be spontaneously organized on-the-go. No wonder it’s so popular with women!


About carpooling.co.uk:
carpooling.co.uk is the English branch of carpooling.com, the largest car sharing network in Europe, transporting over 1 million people each month in 5000 cities and 45 countries. carpooling.co.uk offers reliable car sharing opportunities that are affordable and easy to access by computer, mobile phone (iPhone, Android) or social networks (Facebook). Drivers and passengers can book a seat online and rate each other for additional convenience and safety. By sharing a car, people save petrol and money, reduce carbon emissions and meet new friends. Today the site counts 3.5 million registered users and gives daily access to more than 600,000 transport opportunities. Thanks to carpooling.com, 725,000 tons of C02 and 375 million liters of petrol have been saved; not counting the millions of savings by users and the thousands of friendships created (including more than 10 marriages!).

* Based on AGOF report, November 2011.