Car sharing soars for travel rush

A Shanghai carpooling group says it expects around 60 thousand people to use its services to get out of the city, during this Spring Festival. That's a 20 percent increase from last year. The rising popularity of sharing a car journey with someone else has been prompted by a toll-free highway period and problems getting train tickets.

Cheng Lu from Anhui met with his friend Zheng Jiangzhe online last year and gave him a free lift from Shanghai back home to Hefei for the Spring Festival. In a recent carpooling event, they signed a contract again for this year. According to the rule of the carpooling organization, all the carpoolers, most joining online, must declare their identity to ensure reliability. Car owners can't charge passangers for the rides -- and the first 300 to sign up get help with the gas bill.

Cheng Lu, car owner, said:"I get a gasoline subsidy from the organizer, but even if there were no subsidy, I would support carpooling, just so I thought I could get along well with the other parties."

Zheng Jiangzhe, carpooling passenger, said:"I used to go home by train. But in recent years railway tickets have become more and more difficult to get. I have to depend on carpooling. "

Due to the huge number of migrants and hard-to-get train tickets, carpooling during the Spring Festival has become a new option over the past three years for migrants in big cities. Most carpoolers arrange rides through social media and web sites. This organization is run as a promotion by a Chinese wine dealer.

Liang Yikun, carpooling organizer, said:"We attracted 50,000 carpooling members in the city last year. This year we expect it to rise by 20 percent. Everybody knows most train tickets for departures before Spring Festival eve have already sold out. And the government has dropped highway tolls for this spring festival. We hope more people can join us."

Some locals told ICS they like the idea, but that they are cautious about it.

"If I couldn't buy a railway ticket, I would consider carpooling. It is also a good choice economically speaking. "

"I would want to know who I'm carpooling with, that's safer. "

Lawyer Wu Dong was a legal consultant to the city's transport authority six years ago. He supports carpooling for environmental reasons, and to relieve pressure on the public transport system. And he opposes those who question it.

Wu Dong, law partner, Hui Ye Law Firm, said:"I think carpooling is like "killing several birds with one stone". It's legally fine. I don't think carpooling involves unlicensed business as some officials claim. "

Wu said the government and private organizations should encourage carpooling and make it more reliable. It has long been popular in many Western countries.